


Precious Bonds

by FireStorm1991



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireStorm1991/pseuds/FireStorm1991
Summary: Based off of HG/SS game and the manga, but AU. A journey can start off as one good deed, and then become even more complicated. When a young girl decides on helping out the world, she may be getting herself into more trouble than she bargained for. Can she stop her brother from making the biggest mistake of his life, and in the process help a new friend and rival find closure?Original FFN Post Date: May 24, 2013
Relationships: Silver/Original Female Character





	1. Johto Arc: Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won’t follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD)

“So, do you think we have enough members now?” a tall, red-haired woman huffed. “We’ve been recruiting for months.”

“Yeah,” said one man who was lounging on a couch. He had teal hair and was wearing a black beret. “I’m getting anxious.”

“Yes,” the leader of the group said. “You’re right. We’ve been recruiting, and now it’s time to get the word out there. Once they know of us, more will flock to us. Team Rocket will soon be returning.”

The woman took out her Pokégear and clicked a few buttons. “Better let him know we’re starting sooner than expected.”

* * *

It was a bright, sunny morning and a middle-aged, brown-haired woman with kind, auburn eyes was preparing breakfast for her two children. Her eldest, age eighteen, Petrel, was home for a while before he had to leave for another school related project. Her youngest, age ten, Krisa, had to be up soon. Their neighbor, Professor Elm, had asked a favor of her which involved the girl running off on her own. Lyra wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Krisa leaving home, but the truth was that all children her age needed to take this step. Besides, she would have Pokémon with her. She wouldn’t be alone.

Looking at the clock, it was nearly ten in the morning, and both Petrel and Krisa were still in bed. Lyra knew her children liked to sleep in. Maybe once they were both on their journeys, they’d be broken from their bad habits. “Oh that girl,” Lyra said in a chipper voice. She looked to the Pidgey standing next to her and smiled. “Flappy, will you go get Krisa? She only seems to get up when you wake her.”

Flappy flew to Krisa’s room and pulled the covers from over Krisa’s head. The girl in the bed was still sound asleep. She had bright blue hair that that stuck out from all sides and extremely pale skin. Her soft snores filled the room and Flappy decided to jump on her and nudge her gently with his beak. Krisa shifted, turning over and yawning, before opening one of her big, brown eyes surrounded by blue, fluttering lashes. She smiled when she saw her flying friend. “Good morning, Flappy,” she chimed sleepily as she sat up in bed. “Mm, I wonder what time it is.”

The girl checked the clock on her nightstand which read ten-thirty. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “I’m late!”

Krisa quickly got out of bed, getting into her blue sweat suit and T-shirt and throwing on an orange cap to hide her bedhead. Checking her appearance out in the mirror, she smiled and then ran out of her room. She paused by her brother’s room, seeing and hearing that Petrel was still asleep. Krisa tiptoed by his room so that she wouldn’t wake him and then raced down the stairs with Flappy flapping behind her.

Lyra smiled when she heard her daughter running down the stairs. As Krisa entered the kitchen, she grabbed an apple and sat down at the table. “Well, look who’s finally up,” Lyra teased.

“Sorry mom,” Krisa said meekly. “I’m so used to setting my Pokégear alarm.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Lyra said. “Your Pokégear came back from the shop this morning.”

“Really?” Krisa asked happily.

“Uh-huh,” her mom replied. “It’s over there with your bag.”

Krisa finished her apple and threw her core into the compost bag. She went into the living room and found her Pokégear and bag. Gathering the two items, Krisa stood at the door and waved goodbye to her mom. “I’ll see you later,” she called.

“Alright Krisa,” Lyra called back. When she heard the door shut, she sighed and looked upstairs. “Now how to get Petrel up…”

Krisa gathered her bag on her shoulder, her pink Pokégear on her wrist, and Flappy’s Pokéball in her bag’s pocket before smiling at her flying friend. “Let’s go, Flappy,” she said grinning. “Professor Elm needs us.” The two sped off to the lab together. It took them mere minutes to get there.

* * *

Outside the lab, Krisa saw a boy who looked to be around her age. He was wearing a black sweat suit and had long, red hair. Curious, Krisa walked over to him to ask him if he needed anything. “Hi,” she greeted him.

The boy seemed startled by being seen by her and shot her a firm glare, his dark brown eyes hardened with anger. “What are you looking at?” he snapped before he pushed past her and left the scene. Krisa and Flappy looked to each other and shrugged and then entered Elm’s laboratory. If the boy needed anything, he’d be back.

Professor Elm was waiting for Krisa in the back of his lab by his computer. When she came in, his aide brought her to him. Elm’s face lit us as he greeted the young girl. “Krisa!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for you!” He started discussing he research, which the young girl kind of shrugged off for the moment. She had heard his spiel many times before, so she already knew what he was saying. “So, I need you to go pick something up for me from Mr. Pokémon. He’s a colleague and friend and said he had something for my research. Would you mind picking it up for me?”

“Sure,” Krisa replied. She always wanted to be of some help.

“Great!” Elm said in excitement. “Oh, I know you have your Pidgey, but I think you should have another Pokémon, just in case. I’m working with three now: the grass Pokémon, Chikorita; the fire Pokémon, Cyndaquil; and the water Pokémon, Totodile. I’d like you to pick one.”

“Really?” Krisa asked, her eyes widening in awe. “Well okay.”

She walked over to Elm’s machine and looked inquiringly at the Pokémons’ pictures and data. Being partial to fire types, she instantly settled on Cyndaquil.

“So, you’ve chosen Cyndaquil, huh?” Elm questioned. “That’s the fire mouse Pokémon. Excellent choice.”

The two of them then walked out of the lab, not noticing the shadow near the building. Krisa was ready to leave once Professor Elm had given her the directions. “Mr. Pokémon’s house is just north of Cherrygrove,” Elm told her. “Krisa, be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Professor Elm,” she said with a determined smile. “I’ll be careful.”

* * *

Krisa made her way to Mr. Pokémon’s house with little trouble. The day was beautiful, and it felt great to be out and about. The house, also, was not difficult to find. She politely knocked on the door and an elderly man dressed in a brown suit answered the door. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “You must be Krisa. Professor Elm told me you’d be coming.” Krisa smiled and followed him inside the house. When she entered, she noticed another elderly man with graying hair sipping tea as Mr. Pokémon went into the other room. He came back into the room holding a large egg. Krisa tilted her head in curiosity, wondering what it was. “This is what I need you to take back to Professor Elm, Krisa,” Mr. Pokémon told her. The other man simply stopped drinking his tea at that moment.

“What is it?” Krisa asked. “An egg?”

“Yes,” Mr. Pokémon said with a grin. “A Pokémon egg to be exact. A friend gave this to me and I figured it would help Professor Elm with his research. Think you can get it to him safely?”

Krisa nodded and motioned to her two Pokémon. “Sure,” she answered with certainty. “With Flappy and Flare with me, we’ll be able to take care of that egg.”

Krisa turned to leave and nearly crashed into the other man. “Oh, Krisa,” Mr. Pokémon spoke up, “this is Professor Oak, a friend of mine and a colleague to Professor Elm.”

Krisa stared at Professor Oak for a moment before he decided to talk to her. “You’re helping him with his research?” Oak asked. He then grinned at the young girl when she nodded. “Your Cyndaquil and Pidgey seem to be very close to you,” he observed. “Tell me, would you consider helping me out with my research too?”

“W-What is it?” Krisa asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Oak said as he took out a red machine that almost looked like a larger version of her Pokégear. “This is a Pokédex. It records information about the Pokémon you catch and then stores it in a larger database that I have access to. Actually, a Pokédex was stolen from me earlier today by some pickpocket, and I was hoping to meet a trainer I could trust. Think you’re up to the challenge?”

“Sure!” Krisa exclaimed. “I’d love to help!”

“Excellent!” Oak joined in. “Also, I’d like to give you my number to keep you up to date on everything including upgrades, alright?”

“Okay,” Krisa replied sweetly handing her Pokégear to the professor.

After she and Oak exchanged numbers, Mr. Pokémon suggested that Krisa return home before nightfall. Krisa agreed, storing the egg safely in her bag before heading back to New Bark Town. Once she hit Cherrygrove, though, the boy from Elm’s lab ran into her since he was looking back towards New Bark Town and not paying attention. Just then, her Pokégear went off and she answered it.

 _“Krisa!”_ Elm exclaimed on the other line. _“Get back here quick! Something terrible has happened!”_

He hung up quickly as the red-haired boy chuckled darkly. “Why he would call you for this, I have no idea,” he teased bitterly. “You look like a weakling.”

Krisa glared at the boy and said, “My name is Krisa, you jerk.”

This only served to amuse him more. That’s when Krisa saw a Sneasel and a Totodile. “Hey, that’s…” she started to say before realization overcame her features. “Did you steal that from Professor Elm?”

“Pretty smart, kid,” he replied. “Now if you’ll get out of my way-“

“No!” Krisa shouted narrowing her eyes at the boy before blocking his path with help from Flappy and Flare. The red-haired boy just stared at her blankly and looked over to his Pokémon. He nudged his head in her direction, signaling for them to attack. Both Pokémon charged towards her.

Flappy crossed in front of Krisa, going after the Totodile, while Flare tackled Sneasel. Sneasel dodged easily and quickly, evidence that it was a well-trained Pokémon. Totodile attempted to bite Flappy, but the ambitious Pidgey avoided it and hit the Totodile with its beak. The red-haired trainer glared over to Krisa, making her inwardly cringe. She got ahold of herself when Sneasel scratched Flare. That’s when her trainer instinct kicked in.

“Flare, use smokescreen!” she called out loud enough for her Pokémon to hear. Her opponents were instantly surrounded by a cloud of thick, black smoke, making it more difficult for them to see. “Flappy, peck!”

As a Pidgey, Flappy was able to see, even in conditions with poor visibility. Due to losing his ability to see, the red-haired trainer couldn’t counter her attack. Both his Pokémon landed near him, and he knew he had lost the battle. He called them back into their Pokéballs and chuckled again.

“You’re good, for a weakling,” the boy told her. “But I have more important things to do. I’m out of here.”

“Wait!” Krisa yelled before grabbing onto his jacket causing his trainer card to fall out of his pocket.

He snatched it back from her quickly before running off. The glare he sent her spoke volumes. He knew she had seen his name. _Silver._

* * *

When Krisa returned to the lab, she entered and was accosted by an officer. “So she’s the thief, I see!” he assumed. “They always return to the scene of the crime.”

“No, no, no!” Elm exclaimed. “This is Krisa. She’s my neighbor who I sent out on an errand.”

“Oh, well in that case,” the officer said in an overdramatic fashion as he directed attention to the lab aide. “This man said that he saw the back of the thief’s head and said it was a boy with red hair.”

Krisa’s face fell when she heard this, but more because she knew who the thief was. Still, to cover that up, she had to argue with the officer’s logic. “But I’m a GIRL with BLUE hair,” she stated. “How could you mistake that?”

“Anyway,” the officer said, not even listening, “did you see this boy?”

“Well, I battled a boy, and he had Totodile,” Krisa admitted.

“Oh, did you see his face, or catch his name?” the officer asked.

Krisa didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt the need to protect the boy’s identity. He had been cruel to her, but Totodile was already listening to him like he was its trainer. “I couldn’t see his face,” she lied. “He was wearing a black scarf. Also, I did see his trainer card. His name was, uh…Metal.”

The officer took down all of the information and then tipped his hat. “That’s all I need. Have a great day!”

He raced off quickly, leaving Krisa to feel somewhat torn about her lie. Before she could hone in on her guilt, Professor Elm spoke up. “So…with that out of the way, what did Mr. Pokémon have for me?”

Krisa smiled shyly before taking the egg out of her pack. If she felt bad for anyone getting hurt by her lie, it was Professor Elm. He had been like a father to her since hers and Petrel’s passed away years before. Professor Elm, unaware of the girl’s guilt, took the egg and started talking excitedly about the implications.

“This is great,” he praised Krisa. “Thank you for picking it up for me.”

“Not a problem,” Krisa replied meekly. “I also met Professor Oak, and he gave me a Pokédex.”

“Really?” Elm exclaimed. “That’s great! Krisa, you know what that means? You should take the Pokémon League Challenge. The first gym is in Violet City.”

Krisa thought about it for a moment before nodding. “That sounds challenging,” she told him. “I better get home to tell mom.” Professor Elm agreed as the girl was already out the door.

She jumped the fence into her yard and ran to into her home. “Mom, guess what?” she asked in excitement.

“What?” Lyra asked, although she was sure she already knew the answer.

“Well, Professor Elm gave me a new Pokémon and then I met Professor Oak, and to help him with his research, I’m going to take the Pokémon League Challenge. Elm thinks I should do it.”

“That sounds like fun,” Lyra said enthusiastically. “And I’ve already called in some camping and food supplies to the Cherrygrove mart for such an occasion. By the way, I’ll start saving money for you.”

Krisa ran over to hug her mother. “You’re the best, mom,” she whispered. Then she pulled away and smiled. “I need to go tell Petrel.”

Lyra didn’t get the chance to respond before Krisa fled to the stairs. She chuckled silently and shook her head. Her daughter spent so much energy during the day that knocked her out for the night. Maybe this journey would teach her to pace herself.

* * *

The young girl entered her brother’s room only to find it empty. She walked around the room looking at all of his posters and then heard his Pokégear go off. It was lying on his desk, and she saw the name “Ariana.” That’s when she noticed all the papers on his desk. Her eyes widened in both shock and fear at what she read. All the papers were for the formerly disbanded Team Rocket, a group of Pokémon thieves that had been disbanded three years ago by a boy named Red. Krisa gasped, but then heard the footsteps of her brother returning to his room. She quickly threw herself into his closet.

“Alright, alright, I’m comin’,” Petrel said as he entered his room. He went to his desk and picked up the Pokégear. “Whatda ya want, Ariana?” he asked. There was silence for a moment before Krisa saw her brother grin from her hiding spot. His eyes were dancing in mirth, his already small black pupils dilating with anticipation. “That soon, huh? Great, glad we finally got enough recruits for the new and improved Team Rocket…Nah, my family doesn’t know anything. I’d like to keep it that way…Okay, see you in Violet City.”

Petrel hung up his gear before leaving the room to tell his mother he’d be leaving earlier than planned. He wanted to say goodbye to his sister, but Krisa escaped with Flappy’s help from the window in her room before he could have seen her. Krisa couldn’t believe what she had overheard, but she couldn’t face her brother after that. All she knew was that he was getting himself into trouble. Still, there was nothing she could do. She knew he was already in so deep from the papers she found, so if she wanted to save her brother, she would have to get stronger and stop him herself.

“Flappy, Flare?” she called to her Pokémon. “Think we can help Petrel?”

Both Pokémon replied with energetic calls, and Krisa felt empowered after that. If her Pokémon thought they could get her brother out of trouble, then they would. This time when she took her steps out of town, it was the first step to her newest mission.

* * *

Silver finally settled at a Pokémon center. His Sneasel and new Totodile were being checked out by the nurse. He sat back and thought about the battle he had with the blue-haired girl, Krisa he believed she told him. Unfortunately for him, she knew his name now too. He took out his trainer card and glared at it. No doubt that nosy girl would turn him in.

Just then, an officer entered the center. Silver kept his cool as he posted the wanted poster. The officer then walked over to where he was and asked to see his trainer card. Silver wondered if he had been caught, but when the officer handed him back his card and bid him a good day. Silver was slightly shocked, but didn’t let it show as he moved to check the wanted poster.

It seemed that the aide he ran into only remembered his long, red hair. The facial features were covered up by a scarf he did not own. Not even his eyes were shown. He didn’t understand where the idea of the scarf came from until he saw that the name of the person they were looking for was “Metal.” For some reason he did not understand, Krisa lied for him.

Before he could think of the significance, the light to the examination room went off signaling that his Pokémon were healed. He didn’t have time to think about this now as he checked his location on his jet black Pokégear. His next stop was Violet City, and he had a mission to complete.

* * *

Krisa was walking again on the route to Cherrygrove City. Before she had gotten too far, a boy with a Marill stopped her. She looked the boy up and down and saw that he had short, black hair covered by a black and yellow cap. Only a piece of his seemingly spiked hair peeked out. He had large, brown eyes and a cocky smile to match their determination. “Hey!” he called to her. “You a new trainer?” Krisa nodded in response before the boy ran to her. “Great! I’ll show you how to catch Pokémon.”

“But I already-“

“I insist,” the boy said with a grin. “My name’s Ethan.” He offered her his hand to shake.

“Krisa,” she replied, accepting the gesture.

“Anyways, let’s head into the grass and I’ll catch you a nice Pokémon.”

He didn’t notice Krisa’s sad smile as she followed behind him. Flappy nudged her and quietly cried sadly knowing what the girl was thinking. _Why, Petrel?_ she thought as her and the boy ran into a wild Rattata.

“Alright,” Ethan said. “Now watch what I do.”

Krisa smiled and rolled her brown orbs in both amusement and a hint of irritation. Ethan was a little too excited about teaching her to catch a Pokémon even though she already could, but she let him and watched his Marill battle. He caught the Rattata fairly quickly which did impress Krisa. After it was caught, he handed her the Pokéball.

“I think I’m going to name it Feisty,” Krisa told him.

Ethan laughed at her and then smiled. “And that’s how it’s done, Krisa,” he said kindly. “Now, um, where are you headed?”

“Cherrygrove,” she replied. “I want to get there to stock up on camping supplies and then head to Violet City.”

“Why are you headed to Violet City?” Ethan asked causing Krisa to mentally freeze.

_“Okay, see you in Violet City.”_

_“You should take the Pokémon League Challenge. The first gym is in Violet City.”_

“I’m taking on the Pokémon League Challenge,” Krisa answered telling Ethan a half-truth. “Professor Elm said I should consider it since Professor Oak gave me a Pokédex.”

“You know both Professor Elm AND Oak?” Ethan exclaimed in shock. “They’re the best in the field of Pokémon research! Krisa, I know this is weird, but can I please, please have your number? I want to hear about your journey and research.”

“Sure,” Krisa chimed. “It’s the least I can do for you after you caught Feisty.”

The two exchanged numbers in their Pokégears and, before they realized, made it to Cherrygrove. There they parted ways as Ethan pressed on to Goldenrod and Krisa stopped at the Pokémart to pick up the supplies her mother had ordered. Once she picked up her tent, some non-perishables, Pokéballs, and medicine for her Pokémon, Krisa set off for Violet City. With Flappy, Flare, and now Feisty with her, she knew she’d be okay.


	2. Johto Arc: Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won’t follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD)

Krisa had picked up her camping gear and healed her Pokémon at the Pokémon center. While she waited, she checked the map card on her Pokégear. She determined that if she left Cherrygrove before nightfall, she could set up camp at a halfway point between Cherrygrove and Violet City. The sooner she got there, the sooner she could find Petrel.

“Excuse me, miss,” a voice said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Are you all right?” Krisa looked up to see a smiling old man standing in front of her with a miniature basket. She blinked at him a few times, not truly having heard his question. “You looked like you were deep in thought for such a young lady. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Krisa shook her head. “Thank you, but I’m okay,” she answered. “I’m just waiting for my Pokémon and then I have to head to Violet City.”

“Ah, a new trainer,” the old man chuckled. “Fond memories. I remember when I started my own journey when I was simply a ten year old lad.” Krisa smiled at the old man’s reminiscing. “But tell me, child; why are you heading out to Violet City so late? Surely you could spend the night here at the center.”

Krisa frowned. No, she couldn’t stay in Cherrygrove. She needed to get to Violet City and catch up with her brother. At least if she could stop him from going through with this fake Team Rocket’s plan, he could avoid getting in trouble. That’s all the girl wanted, her brother’s safety.

“No, sir,” she said shyly. “I need to get to Violet City as soon as I can.”

The old man chuckled at the young girl’s determination, despite her seemingly quiet nature. Just then a sound rang signaling that her Pokémon were healed and ready to go, and Krisa leapt up to get them.

“Here you are, miss,” the nurse said kindly. “Your Pokémon are in very good health. Just make sure to visit Pokémon centers in the towns you visit.”

“I will,” Krisa agreed taking her three Pokéballs. Releasing Flappy to walk around with her, she was ready to leave the Pokémon Center.

As she started to leave, the old man called out to her. “Wait!” Krisa heard causing her to stop. “I have something for you.”

Krisa looked over to him and realized he was closer, handing her the small basket he had been carrying. She had no idea why he was giving her the basket, but then he explained. “That box stores apricorns. It proved useful on my journey, and I hope it will do the same for you.”

Krisa smiled and nodded, taking the box in her hands. She continued to listen to the old man talk about his travelling days while mentally filing some tips and facts about finding apricorns. Flappy nudged her a few times to try to get her to converse, but Krisa didn’t know what to say. Eventually, she and the old man parted ways, and she continued on her journey to Violet City.

* * *

The sky turned orange signaling that the girl should make camp soon. Sighing and feeling irritated that she didn’t cover more distance during the day, she reluctantly paused in her steps and dropped the gear she carried. Flappy looked up at her with a cocked head. Her sad eyes looked to her Pidgey. Forcing a smile, she said, “It looks like we should set up camp here.”

Flappy chirped in response, but then noticed something moving behind its trainer. Its chirps grew louder as the winged Pokémon pointed its appendage in that direction.

Krisa blinked confusedly before turning, her big brown eyes widening when she saw a little Caterpie attempting to get up a tree and falling back every time. It was then that she remembered the Pokédex and it was her goal to catch as many Pokémon as possible for Professor Oak’s research.

The blue-haired girl smirked confidently before looking at her partner. “What do you say, Flappy?” she mused. “Think we should add a new addition to the team?” Her Pidgey nodded enthusiastically and her disappointment from moments ago left her.

She stood, one foot behind her and pointed towards the Caterpie. “Flappy, use tackle, now!”

Flappy glided through the air fast as the pressure built up behind him. He collided with the Caterpie as it attempted to climb up the tree again. The bug Pokémon landed in the clearing. It tensed slightly before looking ready to fight.

Krisa’s eyes lit up with mirth. If she caught this Caterpie, it would be the first Pokémon she caught on her own, and it looked like a fighter too. She couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of gaining a new friend and partner. “Alright, now use gust!” she declared pointing in the direction of the Caterpie.

Flappy did as she asked and the Caterpie closed its eyes trying to stay in its spot, but the little guy didn’t have enough strength to hang on. It was knocked back, lying on its side when Krisa decided to throw her Pokéball. The ball rolled around slightly before all movement stopped and the red glowing light went out. Krisa froze for a moment, her mouth hanging open before her eyes widened and lit up with joy. She ran over to the Pokéball and picked it up, laughing and dropping herself to lie on the ground. Holding the Pokéball above her head, she smiled and said, “I think I’ll call it Flit.” She tilted her head to look at her Pidgey. “Does that sound good, Flappy?” The Pidgey chirped excitedly while flapping around. Krisa again smiled at her Pokéball. She had managed to catch a Pokémon all on her own. Now she just needed to set up camp for the night, and the next day she would push forward to Violet.

Night had fallen quickly after Krisa caught her new friend, and now all four of her Pokémon were out relaxing with her in the night air. They sat around the small fire, and Krisa stared into the crackling flames thinking about everything. She was lying for both Petrel and a stranger, and that was very unlike her. In a way she was actually helping two people be criminals, but if her plan worked out she would be able to convince her brother to come home with her. Maybe she could even stop Silver from being a criminal. She shook her head at the thought. There was only so much she could do, and she knew that. She could only hope that the next day would be better.

* * *

Silver was taking a break for the night, sleeping in a tree with his Sneasel. So far all things had gone according to plan, with a few mishaps, but according to plan nonetheless. The kid was on a mission, one that required a strong team, and no one was going to stand in his way. Sure, he hadn’t wanted to steal from Professor Elm’s lab, but it worked out that way. He couldn’t really go in there after he had picked up one of Professor Oak’s Pokédex by accident, no doubt reported stolen. His original plan was to discuss is mission with the Professor and request aid.

Now he was technically a fugitive, though he didn’t have to hide completely thanks to that girl. She had actually done him a favor by lying for him. He could go out in the open or hide away as needed. The best part was he didn’t need to worry about the authorities. They could deal with the real criminals. Stealing Totodile and the Pokédex would be his only crimes. He was nothing like the criminals he was pursuing.

* * *

Krisa was starting to fall asleep and checked the time on her Pokégear and saw that it was getting late. She crawled into her tent, burying herself in a cushioned sleeping back while peeking out of the front of the tent. Her Pokémon were all sleeping comfortable, so she drifted off. That was until she heard the Pokémon cry out and hurriedly rushed out of her tent.

There was a Spinarak attacking all of her Pokémon with string shot preventing them all from moving. The only Pokémon that seemed to avoid the stringy webs was Flit. She assumed it was because Flit was also a bug-type and shared a similar move set. “Flit,” Krisa called out. When the Caterpie looked at her she smiled and nodded. “Use tackle attack.”

Flit followed in the direction she pointed, attacking the Spinarak. The spider-like Pokémon managed to dodge only slightly, but used poison sting to attempt to weaken Flit. The Caterpie took the hit, but responded by using its own string shot. The webbing slowed Spinarak down, but that didn’t deter it. Instead, it used scary face and that made Krisa cringe.

Now, Krisa was never a huge fan of spiders, so Spinarak’s display didn’t help matters; however, she couldn’t just let it get away. The determined child realized that she was going to have to face whatever fears, even small ones, if she was going to try to take on Team Rocket. This battle was the first step. She also needed this Pokémon’s data for the Pokédex. “I can do this,” she told herself before turning her attention back to Flit and Spinarak.

The Spinarak looked very tired, but Flit still had a ton of energy. Smirking slightly, she gave her orders. “Flit, tackle, once more.”

Flit tackled the Spinarak which surprisingly took it down. It was another victory for Krisa and her team, but she also noted how weak Spinarak was. She decided to take out a special ball that she had bought from the Pokémart, a Heal Ball, and threw it to catch the Spinarak. Being as weakened as it was, Spinarak didn’t put up a fight. Krisa was thankful, because that special ball brought Spinarak’s health up to full.

She picked up the ball, starting to ponder what to name it before moving to release her Pokémon from the webs. “Flit, you did a great job and-“

Krisa gasped in shock when she turned to look at Flit. The Caterpie was glowing. Krisa had only seen a Pokémon evolve once, back on a family camping trip with her brother, mother, and father. She would never forget the beautiful, white glow before that made her interested in Pokémon, the reason she did work for Professor Elm and assistant him with his research in evolution. When Flit changed shape and became a Metapod, the glow disappeared.

“Oh wow,” Krisa said as she took out her Pokédex. “Metapod, huh? Flit must have been on the verge of evolution, which explains how much energy he had.” She looked to the stationary Pokémon and smiled, closing the mini computer. Then she walked over and knelt down in front of the Metapod. “So there, you were probably ready to evolve when we battled you, huh? I’m glad I was able to see it.”

She picked up Flit and brought him to the rest of the group before taking out the heal ball. “What to name this one,” she mused. She thought about its speed and scary face technique when it hit her. “Flashy, I think. Yes, Flashy is a good name.” She yawned slightly remembering how late it was and then went back into the tent, bring Metapod with her. The rest of her Pokémon followed her and the five of them buried themselves with her in the sleeping bag. Krisa reached to put the heal ball with her bag. Tomorrow, they’d have proper introductions, but for now Krisa needed sleep. She had a long day ahead of her.

* * *

Morning came quickly and, as usual, Krisa was still asleep. Flappy and Flare worked together to get her up, and eventually succeeded. “Mm, morning guys,” Krisa said while stretching. She looked outside the tent and saw the sun. Her Pokégear read 7:00. She was happy that her Pokémon knew to get her up early.

She returned Flit and Feisty to their Pokéballs and packed up camp before finishing her trek to Violet City. It took about an hour to arrive at the city gate where the greeter was waiting.

“Why hello, miss,” the greeter said with slight strain. “How are you this fine morning?”

Krisa smiled to the man and motioned to Flappy and Flare. “My name’s Krisa,” she told him. “And I’m a Pokémon trainer.”

“Ah, so you came to battle the gym leader, right?” the greeter said with more ease.

“Well,” Krisa said, her face falling. “That and I’m looking for a couple people.”

“Oh really?” the man said his original strain returning. “Who?”

“I’m looking for my older brother,” she admitted. “I heard him saying he was coming here and I needed to talk to him. I’m also looking for my new…friend. He has long, red hair and was wearing a black jacket with red on it. Has he been by?”

The greeter, who was momentarily stunned, regained his composure and nodded. “Yeah, I saw a kid like that not too long ago. Quiet little bugger. I tried talking to him, but he seemed too engrossed in where he was going. He asked how to get to Sprout Tower.”

Krisa’s face lit up. “Oh, so he went there. How far is it?”

“Not far,” the greeter replied. “Go about three blocks and make a left past the Pokémon Center. It’s a huge building; you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks so much,” Krisa said with a smile. “Flappy, Flare, let’s go.”

Krisa waved to the greeter as she ran off. The greeter smiled and waved until she was out of eyeshot. After she was gone, the man frowned and took out a walkie-talkie. “Yeah, we’re gonna have a problem,” he said into it as he took off one of his many disguises. “My sister knows we’re here.”

* * *

Krisa was about to run past the Pokémon Center when someone stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. She stopped and gasped and was ready to defend herself, but when she saw Ethan standing there and smiling at her, she relaxed. “What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“Taking a quick break,” he told her. “I spent the night at the Pokémon Center. It got dark pretty fast.”

“Yeah,” Krisa replied, “tell me about it.”

“Plus,” Ethan added, “I knew you were heading here and I wanted to see your gym battle.”

“O-Oh?” Krisa said nervously. She hadn’t been planning on battling right away. She really needed to get to Sprout Tower and find Silver. It would make her feel better about lying if she knew why he had taken Totodile in the first place. “Well, I had some errands to run first and-“

“Oh yeah, I figured that,” Ethan told her. “Besides, your Pokémon are probably tired from your journey. Like my grandpa always says, it’s good to stop at a Pokémon Center in every town.”

Krisa couldn’t argue with that, and the two of them walked into the Pokémon Center together. Where her new Spinarak, Flashy, was healed fully, but the others could use a checkup. It was nice to run into Ethan again too. Then she remembered where he said he was heading. “I thought you were supposed to go to Goldenrod.”

Ethan put his hands behind his head and laid back. “Yeah, but I’ll have to go the long way,” he told her. “Some weird tree is blocking the way from the park. I tried poking it with my cue and it actually danced.”

Krisa laughed at what he said, playfully shoving him. “Trees don’t dance, silly,” she teased. “So you have to go the long way, huh?”

“Yeah,” he muttered leaning back and looking up. “But my family’s worried about me going alone. It’s seriously no big deal. With my Pokémon, I can get through anything. They’re my partners.”

Krisa grinned at her friend. “I feel the same way,” she agreed with him. “That’s why I’m training along with them. We’ll work together to face any obstacle no matter what or who stands in our way.” Ethan smiled at the new trainer and then rummaged through his bag for something. He took out some square device and handed it to Krisa. “What’s this?” she asked taking the device from him.

“It’s called a VS Recorder,” Ethan explained. “It’s supposed to record battles.”

“Don’t you need it?” the young girl asked, trying to hand it back. Ethan stopped her and smirked.

“I don’t need it,” he told her. “It was a present from a friend, but I don’t need to record my battles. I’m an in the moment kind of guy.”

Krisa stared at him questioningly before she decided to accept his gift. “Thanks,” she said tossing the small computer into her bag. This would definitely come in handy at some point in her quest. She could only hope she’d know when to use it. Just as she was about to say something else, the red light above the nurse’s room had gone out.

“Krisa,” the nurse called out. “Your Pokémon are fully healed.”

“Great!” Krisa exclaimed happily, hopping up from her seat. Ethan watched her with a small grin on his face and shook his head. When she returned, she still had the same joyful air around her. “Anyways, I’ll be back later,” she told him. “I just have some things to do.”

“No problem,” Ethan said with a nonchalant wave. “I’m not going anywhere, maybe to the Pokémart. Hey, maybe we can head there later and get some supplies. I can show you where it is.”

“That sounds nice,” Krisa said thankfully. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Krisa waved goodbye and raced from the Pokémon Center. She felt bad for leaving Ethan like that, but she needed to find Silver and talk to him about their run-in. Then after, she needed to locate her brother and stop him from whatever he was planning to do.

* * *

Sprout Tower, a tall, wooden building inhabited by sages and the town’s most prized monument. Krisa had never been so awed by a building before in her like. It was so much larger than any building in New Bark Town, and no building she had ever seen had a moving pillar in the center. No one seemed to be worried about the swaying object, so Krisa decided to ignore it and ask the tourists about Silver. Apparently, no one had seen him.

“Flare, what should we do?” she asked her Cyndaquil. The flaming Pokémon cooed softly nudging its nose to the staircase. No one seemed to be hanging around there, nor did anyone seem to want to leave the bottom floor. “You want to go up?” Flare nodded its head once. “Well, alright then,” she answered with a shrug. “It’s better than anything I’ve got.”

The two began to move upstairs, and strangely no one was stopping them, nor was there anyone on the higher floors. “This is strange,” Krisa said to Flare. “Something feels off.”

Krisa didn’t notice Flare shivering and continued to walk up the next few sets of stairs. Flare followed closely behind her, nervous as to what was up ahead. When she stopped, the Pokémon nudged her leg for attention. The girl looked down to her friend with worry. “What’s wrong, Flare?”

Flare looked up the last set of stairs and then shook and Krisa knew. Something was going on up there. “Alright,” Krisa said trying to keep her voice from wavering. “We can do this, Flare. Our friends will help us.”

Krisa released her remaining Pokémon from their Pokéballs, even Flashy. The little spider looked around curiously, releasing small clicks to communicate. “Okay guys, there’s something up ahead,” Krisa explained. “We need to be ready for anything.”

Going up the last bit of stairs was nerve-wracking, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Sages stood on each side, eyes closed, but nothing seemed to be wrong. Still, Krisa’s Pokémon seemed worried. That kept Krisa on edge herself. She decided to go question one of the sages hoping that they might have seen Silver. She went up to the first one she saw, her Pokémon staying behind as she questioned him.

“Hi,” she greeted, “can you tell me if a guy with long, red hair came by here. I’m looking for him.” The sage didn’t even open his eyes. “Um, sir, can you please just tell me?”

All of a sudden, the bald man’s eyes shot open and snapped to Krisa. Then the rest of the sages did the same. All of their eyes were glowing purple. “Wha…what is this?” Krisa asked backing away from the man. After she spoke, all the men threw their Pokéballs releasing an army of purple-eyed Bellsprout. Not having ever been in a group battle like this, Krisa didn’t know what to do, but her Pokémon took the lead on this as each of the five started attacking the enemy Bellsprout. That snapped her out of her daze.

“Alright, Flare, use ember,” she called. Flare’s flame grew slightly as the little fire mouse breathed flames from his mouth and took out one of the Bellsprout. Unbeknownst to Krisa, another Bellsprout managed to knock out her Cyndaquil with sleep power, to which Flappy responded by using gust. Flashy was trying hard to keep up in the fight, especially since he was newly caught. The Spinarak only had a one damage inflicting move and unfortunately it wasn’t that effective again the poison type Bellsprout. Instead, it used its sting shot to attempt to slow the Bellsprout down, and it wasn’t very successful.

With Flare down for a while and Flashy struggling, Krisa ordered both Flappy and Flit to attack, holding Feisty back just in case. Flappy’s gust took out three of the Bellsprout, and surprisingly Flit’s tackle was inflicting a ton of damage. Flit was the one to take out the last two, and once again, the Metapod shone of a white glow. Flit was evolving again!

This time, its shaped took on the form of a butterfly and, when the glow disappeared, Krisa took out her Pokédex and saw that the Pokémon was called a Butterfree. “Pretty,” she said before she regained her battle sense.

All of the Bellsprout were defeated, but their trainers still had purple, glowing eyes. Something else was going on here. Then a new move showed up on her Pokédex for Butterfree. “Flit,” she called out, “use confusion!”

Flit’s eyes shone as it used the confusion technique, and right away it showed results. Each one of the Sages seemed to come to their senses asking where they were. Then, a Pokémon appeared shocking everyone. A purple, sphere-shaped Pokémon fell from the air and crashed to the floor. Taking the chance, Krisa used another heal ball to capture the purple Pokémon.

As soon as she did, the Pokédex beeped with new information. It was Gastly, the gas Pokémon, and it was a ghost and poison type. “I think I’ll call it Frighty. That was pretty terrifying,” she said to her Pokémon.

“Little girl,” one of the sages spoke to get Krisa’s attention. She looked to the bald man warily. “Are you the one who stopped Gastly?” She nodded and the man laughed. “We thank you. Gastly has been around here causing trouble recently. Now maybe things can be peaceful again.”

“Happy to help,” Krisa said before she realized Flare was still sleeping. “Hm, how do I wake him up?”

“Here, take this,” another sage said. “It’s the least we can do having been the cause of this.” He handed her a wrapped object.

“What is it?” Krisa asked.

“It’s medicine,” the sage explained. “It’s called an Awakening. It should wake your Cyndaquil up right away.”

Krisa stared at the object and then looked to Flappy questioningly. The bird shrugged its wings, and then Krisa decided to try the medicine on her Cyndaquil. Like the man had said, Cyndaquil woke up as soon as the Awakening was administered. “Amazing,” Krisa breathed out, her brown eyes widened with awe.

“Now, young lady,” the last sage said, “what exactly brings you up here?”

Krisa quickly rose to her feet and dusted herself off. “Well, I’m looking for a friend and I was told he came here,” she explained.

The sages stared at her blankly before one of them said, “Ah yes, the young boy with red hair who went to challenge our master. Is that who you mean?”

“Yeah,” Krisa said with a smile. “Where is your master?”

“In the back of the room, but wait, miss!” Krisa was already running towards the back, her partners in tow, before the sage could warn her what was going on back there. “Well, she’ll find out.”

* * *

Krisa made it just in time to see Silver winning a match against the elder. The man looked serious, his dark eyes seeming to pierce through Silver’s soul. The red-haired boy blinked and backed away slightly, not liking the gleam in the man’s eye. He wasn’t prepared to hear what the elderly man had to say.

“You are a good trainer,” he said, “of that I have no doubt, but the way you treat you Pokémon…You treat them like tools of war. You are too harsh with them. Practice patience, young one.”

“Save it,” Silver snapped, glaring at his beaten opponent. “I don’t need a lecture from the likes of you. Sneasel, Croconaw, and Gastly are fine. I’m sure you saw that when Croconaw evolved from Totodile.”

“It already evolved?” Krisa asked.

This caused Silver to look in her direction. He was truly shocked to see her there, his brown eyes widening. The night before he couldn’t stop thinking about why she had done what she had done. But as soon as the shock settled in, he regained his angered composure and glared harshly and the blue-haired girl. “What’s a weakling like you doing here?” he growled. “Only the strong should battle opponents like that.”

Krisa hated that he kept calling her a weakling. She was a new trainer, but that didn’t mean she was weak. “Doesn’t it take a strong trainer to get past the sages?” she asked. “Obviously I did or I wouldn’t be here.”

Silver was surprised by her comeback but wouldn’t let up. “Whatever,” he scoffed. “This place is full of weaklings anyway. For me to defeat their elder so easily there’s no other explanation. I’m outta here.”

Before Krisa could even think to say “wait,” Silver disappeared in a flash of light and the young girl was left staring and the saddened elder. The old man shook his head in disappointment, but he knew the boy could only learn from experience. That was why he had kept his part of the deal and had given the boy the technique he had just used to escape.

Then he saw the young girl who had tried to confront Silver. It seemed like the two knew each other from how he had acted. He smiled to the frowning girl. “Young lady,” he called out, “what is your name?”

She sniffed slightly having had her feelings hurt by someone she was trying to help. “Krisa,” she squeaked in response.

“Well Krisa,” he said to her, “come and sit. We have much to discuss.”

* * *

“What do you mean she knows about us?” Ariana scolded. “How would she have found out?”

 _“I don’t know,”_ Petrel’s voice came over her walkie-talkie. _“Maybe if someone didn’t call me at HOME all of the time, she wouldn’t have overheard, but she knows I’m in Violet City so I’m sure she knows more than that.”_

“I’m going to have to go to Archer with this,” Ariana told him. She was sure he already knew that they couldn’t have anything or anyone interfering with their plans, even if it happened to be one of the new executive’s younger sister. It was bad enough the original Team Rocket was ended by a child three years ago. She didn’t want to relive that mess.

 _“No, don’t!”_ Petrel exclaimed. _“Look, I’ll handle my sister, okay? Besides, I’m not even sure what she does know. I’m sure she’ll keep out of Team Rocket’s way. She’s not a fighter, only a new trainer. Please, Ariana.”_

Ariana sighed with reluctance. She didn’t want to get on Archer’s bad side, given they were grunts together when Giovanni ran things, but she didn’t want to throw a child under the bus. “Okay look, I’ll make you a deal,” she said. “If your sister stays out of Team Rocket’s affairs, I’ll leave it be, but if she gets in the way, I am going to Archer and he will do what he sees fit. Agreed?” She heard nothing from the other side. “Agreed?”

 _“Yeah, I hear ya,”_ Petrel agreed with a sadness in his voice. _“Thanks Ariana.”_

“No problem,” she responded before they cut communication. She let out a lengthy sigh before sitting down on the sofa. _Hopefully,_ she mused as she looked out the window, _hopefully those new grunts in Violet can get the job done._

* * *

Back in Violet City, Team Rocket grunts were hiding out in the back of the Trainer School putting Pokéballs into crates. These Pokémon had been taken from the trainers that stopped by before furthering their journey. They wouldn’t have known until after they left town, so they needed to pack these crates onto the truck quickly.

“Alright, haul out,” one of the grunts ordered to the driver. “The quicker you can get those to headquarters, the easier it’ll be for us. Those trainers won’t be seeing their Pokémon again.”

“Oh really?”

The three grunts turned to see Silver standing in front of them with a smirk, his three Pokémon behind him. “Who’re you, brat?” the third grunt growled before getting ready to toss out a Pokéball.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Silver retorted crossing his arms defiantly. “Well, I’ll tell you then. I’m the kid that’s going to ruin your organization, and I’m starting with you three. Sneasel, Croconaw, attack!”

His Pokémon attacked the men willingly, not giving them the chance to retaliate. The two outside the truck crashed back into the truck and groaned in agony. Silver smirked at his Pokémons’ handiwork. He frowned once more when the third guy got out of the truck swinging a club. “Gastly, hypnosis.”

Waves pulsated from Gastly’s body and were directed towards the final guy. The man passed out and Silver made his own move, taking the rope he had found lying around the tower and tying up all three of them together. He opened the back of the truck and found a few crates of Pokémon. _Pathetic,_ he thought knowing that the original Team Rocket had been able to catch more than this. _Well, either way, I will stop them from reforming._

“Let’s go,” he said to his Pokémon with the utmost authority. “We have more ground to cover and more training to do.”

Silver placed his hands in his pockets walking away from the scene. The authorities could handle the grunts and getting the Pokémon back to their trainers. Being followed by his Pokémon, Silver set course to the next town, and the next trial.

* * *

“Ah, so you know that boy from your hometown,” the elder, who had told Krisa his name was Li, mused. “And he got the Totodile from Professor Elm.”

Krisa quickly downed a large sip of her tea nervously. She was getting tired of these half-truths. “Yeah, that’s the story,” she replied. _And I’m sticking to it._

“He wouldn’t happen to be the boy who broke into the lab, is he? The one named _Metal,_ ” Li pressed. Krisa frowned and she knew she was caught. Li only laughed and said, “Do not worry, child. I could tell that Pokémon wanted to be with him. That is why it was able to evolve so quickly. From how long he’s been working with it, I would have expected it to evolve in only a few more days. Anyway, I will not tell your secret. It’s none of my business. I’m just a lowly elder with a faulty memory.”

Krisa flashed him a thankful smile and then set down her tea. “So what exactly were you giving him?” she asked.

“It was a move called Flash, a hidden machine, or HM for short. There are eight different types. I happened to find the move, Flash, a long time ago on my own journey. It’s a useful technique that lights up the darkest caves. It allows for trainers to take their adventures to a new level, so I decided to erect this tower when I returned here to my hometown years before. Little did I know it would become a monument.” He chuckled at the memory of when the tower was just a small design, a pipe dream that he never thought would be realized. “I wanted to be able to teach new trainers this move to help them on their journey, so I replicated the HM. I even taught it to my students for when I am long gone. It can always be used, no matter how old it gets.”

“It’s so nice of you that you decided to give trainers this move,” Krisa said happily. “It sounds like quite a useful move.”

“Oh no, child,” he countered, “I don’t just give this move away. I first need to test a trainer’s fighting spirit and connection with Pokémon. I can’t just give it away willy-nilly or the move’s importance loses all meaning. If you want the move, you must meet my challenge.”

Krisa’s eyes widened, but the she grinned. Other than Silver, this was her first challenge. Plus, it would be beneficial training learning from a man with his wisdom and kindness. “You’ve got yourself a fight,” Krisa said confidently, her Pokémon agreeing with her declaration.

Elder Li picked up three Pokéball’s from the table and stood up slowly. “Yes, child,” he said. “Let us fight.”

The first Pokémon the elder sent out was a Bellsprout. Krisa thought hard about her selection, not wanting to send Flare out to fall victim to the sleep powder again. “Flappy, you can go up against Bellsprout,” she decided.

Flappy responded happily to being chosen and went into battle. Elder Li’s eyes widened briefly, but then he just smiled warmly. Her Pokémon seemed to be not only well trained, but happy and free as well. His eyes then became serious as he called the first attack. “Bellsprout, vine whip.”

Long, tentacles of vines shot out from Bellsprout’s leaves. “Flappy, dodge,” Krisa called out outstretching her hand. Flappy flew up into the air in sync with her hand gesture, another thing about Krisa and her team that Li noticed. He hadn’t seen anyone that in sync with their Pokémon since…well, he wasn’t going to go down memory lane on this. But it was still highly impressive, and he didn’t even mind when she told her Pidgey to attack with a strong gust attack. It seemed the bird shared the girl’s spirit, and that made the man’s day.

He recalled his Bellsprout and sent out another only to have Krisa switch out Pidgey for her Butterfree. Krisa, wanting to practice with as many of her Pokémon as she could, didn’t realize what Li realized about her. She could have easily left Flappy in battle and taken out his other Bellsprout, but she chose to show all of her Pokémon the same type of consideration in battle.

“Okay, since Bellsprout is a poison type, confusion should work,” Krisa said to Flit. “Get into its path. If it tries to hit you with its vines, deflect them with your wings.”

Flit nodded and went out into battle. Li seemed to approve of everything going on with this battle. Instructing the Bellsprout to use its vine whip technique combined with stun spore, Flit used its wings to deflect the vines was frozen in spot by the spores; however, he didn’t need to move to use confusion and willed itself to make the attack hit. As Bellsprout tried to recover, Flit used tackle finishing off the fight.

Li returned Bellsprout to its Pokéball before sending out his last Pokémon, a Hoothoot that he had been training for some time. It was his most trusted new Pokémon. Krisa looked between Flit to Flare. Flit was paralyzed and he was already at a type disadvantage. She knew she would have to return to the Pokémon Center after. “Flare, switch,” she ordered.

Flare hopped into battle as Krisa recalled Flit to his Pokéball to rest. “Alright Flare, you’ve got this. Attack it with ember.”

Flare shot out a small flame which Hoothoot narrowly dodged. It was slightly hit by the flame causing a small burn. It was impressive for an attack that didn’t hit head on to cause a status problem in an opponent, but Krisa was going to use it to her team’s advantage.

The Hoothoot tackled Flare, pecking it after the initial hit. Flare didn’t take it sitting down, though, and managed to shake it off and use its own tackling ability. Hoothoot was hit back, trying to regain its composure and stance, but was hit with an oncoming flame. Hoothoot was knocked out and recalled by Elder Li. He held his Pokéball close to him before smiling and setting it back on the table.

“The battle is over,” Li said with a calm voice. “I am highly impressed with your skills for being a new trainer.” Krisa seemed shocked by his praise. “For a new trainer, you and your Pokémon work surprisingly well together. They know what you all need when you need it, and that connection is something you will need in future challenges. You are deserving of the HM, Flash.”

He handed Krisa a wrapped box containing information on the technique. Krisa took it from him and stared at it. “Thank you,” she chimed. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s not a problem,” he assured her. “You and your team earned it.”

Krisa answered with a smile and slight giggle. She and her team were about to leave when Li called out to her once more. “Krisa.” She stopped walking and froze in the spot. “That boy, Silver, he has a strange path ahead of him, and I believe the path you’ll take is entwined with his. Don’t give up on him. He made need your guidance in the near future.”

Krisa didn’t respond. She and the rest of her Pokémon just raced down the stairs. Still, Li knew she got the message. After all, she was the one who came looking for Silver in the first place. She wouldn’t leave her behind like he seemed to want.

* * *

Krisa ended up at the Pokémon Center again, waiting for Flit to be healed and Flappy and Flare to be checked for injuries. As she waited, she pondered Li’s words. It was almost as if he knew what was going to happen to her, but there was no way. He was wise, not psychic. Krisa chuckled at the thought. No, he could just read the situation well, nothing more than that. The light went off again, and she was ready to get her Pokémon and search the city to see if Silver was still there and if Petrel could be found.

“There you are!” Ethan exclaimed as she exited the center. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I just got a bunch of supplies for us.”

“Us?” Krisa asked. “You bought me supplies?”

“Well yeah,” Ethan said a small blush forming on his face. “Anyways, come on; let’s get you to the gym.”

He started pushing her in the direction of the gym against her will. “What are you doing?” she shouted in protest.

“Look, my grandparents have sent someone to drive me, but I’d rather travel there on my own or, in this case, with a buddy. Now let’s go. The car will be here any second.”

“Okay, okay,” Krisa surrendered. “Man, you’re pushy. I can walk on my own to the gym.”

“Excellent!” Ethan replied. “Hurry!”

A figure hiding in the shadows of the Pokémon Center watched as the two children headed to the gym. He didn’t know if they had been responsible for the mishaps at the Trainer School, but he could only hope for Krisa’s sake that neither was involved. “Oh Krisa,” he muttered smacking his forehead, “you should have stayed home.”


	3. Johto Arc: Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won’t follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD Also Silver, Gold, and Crystal. Ah Silver…my first videogame :3)

“Okay, okay. Man, you’re pushy. I can walk on my own to the gym,” Krisa said as Ethan was pushing her towards the gym.

“Excellent!” Ethan replied before letting her go and running. “Hurry!”

Krisa stared at him like he was insane. Her Pidgey had the same sentiments. Ethan seemed to be overly excited for her gym battle and Krisa couldn’t figure out why he was so enthusiastic. Well, maybe he wanted to see Feisty in action. He had caught the Rattata for her. Still, she wasn’t sure yet if she planned on using Feisty.

They reached the gym and both entered, a strange man in glasses approaching them. “Are you looking for the gym leader?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ethan stated. “My friend, Krisa, is here to challenge the leader to a battle. Is he not here?”

“No, no,” the man said waving his hands downward. “Today is actually Falkner’s day off from his other job. It’s his day for challenges. You two are lucky. He usually only has a day off every four days.”

“Wow, perfect timing,” Krisa mused. “Where can I find him?”

“In his office in the back of the gym,” the messenger told her. “I’ll page him so you don’t have to wander around.”

“Great,” Ethan said. “You do that and I’ll head to the stadium field with Krisa. Let’s go.”

* * *

Falkner was told by his assistant that he had a challenger and made his way to the field. He had actually been hoping for a break today seeing as his other job was getting taxing. Sometimes being an officer of the law was its own challenge, but he did enjoy helping keep the town safe for the citizens and new trainers. His duty was always to the trainer; today he would prove that. Whoever his challenger was, he would make sure he pushed them to their limits to prepare them for the long journey ahead.

He was surprised to see a young girl in the challenger’s block, but smiled at her. She seemed so child-like, but she had made it to the town. There was something about her, though, that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place the face. “Welcome challenger,” the navy-haired teen said. “What is your name?”

“Krisa,” she answered timidly.

“Where are you from, Krisa?”

“New Bark Town.”

Falkner lit up at that. His father had once told him about a friend of his that lived in that town, but he had died tragically in an accident leaving his family behind. He decided to focus on the challenger, Krisa. Any trainer from New Bark Town was rumored to pose a good challenge. “Alright, Krisa,” Falkner said with a smile. “Send out your first Pokémon.”

Krisa decided to send out Flappy. All she had to do was look to her trusted partner and he knew what to do. Flappy flew out onto the battle field and Falkner felt admiration for the Pidgey. Being the bird master himself, he could tell the difference between healthy bird Pokémon merely by the color of their feathers and the way they held themselves.

“Your Pidgey looks well trained,” he told her. “Now let’s see how it compares to my own.”

Falkner threw out a Pokéball that held his own Pidgey. “Wow, this should be interesting,” Ethan said when he looked between the two bird Pokémon. This would be a pretty even matchup.

“Flappy,” Krisa called, “use tackle.” The battle began, and both Flappy and Falkner’s Pidgey were determined to win. Falkner’s Pidgey managed to avoid Flappy’s tackle and hit him with a tackle of its own. Flappy tried to tackle the Pidgey again and hit it hard, nearly ending it right there as retaliation for getting the first hit. The opposing Pidgey, now weakened, managed to land another tackle, but it barely affected Flappy. Flappy moved swiftly to deal a finishing blow to the Pidgey.

Falkner recalled his Pidgey to its Pokéball and sent out his Pidgeotto. Krisa decided to let Flappy take a break and sent out Flare to battle. The Cyndaquil lit its flame and cried out its battle cry. The gym leader didn’t see foresee having any trouble from the fire type considering it was still a fairly new Pokémon.

Flare attempted to use ember, but was tackled first by the Pidgeotto before he could fire the flames. The ember yielded a critical hit, and then Flare used leer to loom over its opponent weakening its defense. Flare was again tackled and weakened by the Pidgeotto’s power.

Krisa decided to send Flappy out again before Flare was weakened too much, but Flappy was tackled right away. Still, the Pidgey refused to give up to the opponent. It attempted to tackle the Pidgeotto, but was tackled yet again. Falkner’s Pidgeotto had incredible speed, and Krisa knew she needed to find a way to match it.

She recalled Flappy and sent Feisty out instead. Falkner raised an eyebrow at the strange choice. He did not understand the girl’s choice at all. “Hey,” Ethan called, “it’s the Pokémon I caught you. Awesome, I get to see it in action.”

When Falkner saw Krisa smile and nod, he decided not to question it. The girl ordered Feisty to use quick attack and Pidgeotto finally was weakened; however, Falkner had a secret weapon.

“Pidgeotto, use roost,” he declared. Out of nowhere, Pidgeotto seemed to regain almost all of its health.

“What does roost do?” Krisa asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Falkner said. “It’s a move exclusive to bird type Pokémon, and it allows the user to regain a portion of its health. It’s very helpful when you don’t have access to items or are far away from a Pokémon center.”

Krisa didn’t know that there were moves like that where Pokémon could heal themselves without help. She would have to keep that in mind on her journey. The battle continued as Pidgeotto used gust and Feisty bit then Pokémon mid-attack. Feisty used quick attack and Pidgeotto again used gust and both Pokémon ended up weakened. Krisa tries to recall Feisty, but the Rattata refused to return to its Pokéball. It uses quick attack again, but it only does a small amount of damage. Pidgeotto dealt a final tackle knocking the Rattata out.

Krisa recalled the unconscious Rattata and sent Flare out once again. With Pidgeotto weakened, she hoped for Flare to land an attack. Falkner’s Pidgeotto tackled Flare, but Flare hung on to its last bit of health and used ember before its opponent could attack again. Pidgeotto was overcome by the flames and the bird fell from the air in an unconscious state.

Falkner recalled his Pidgeotto back to its Pokéball looking like a warrior who had lost a battle, but as soon as his sternness came it left and he wore a proud smile. “Congratulations, Krisa,” he said. He motioned for her to go over to him. “Step forward.”

Krisa was a little confused, but did as she was told. She watched his reach into his cloak for something. Her eyes widened when she saw something in his hand sparkle. He held the sparkling object out for her to see. It was shaped somewhat like a hexagon, but was shaped like wings. “It’s the Zephyr Badge,” he explained. “It allows traded Pokémon up to level twenty to obey the trainer. It also allows for your Pokémon to use the hidden move, flash, outside of battle.”

Krisa remembered the HM flash that she fought hard for at Sprout Tower. She hadn’t known that she needed a gym badge to use hidden moves, though she was sure there must have been other ways. It was a good thing she was taking this Pokémon League Challenge now that she thought about it. Not only was it the perfect cover and experience, but now it would help her in furthering her strength and abilities to stop her brother from helping reform Team Rocket.

“Krisa, I don’t know what it is,” Falkner told her, “but you seem familiar. I want you to have something. You can use it on your Pidgey. It has the strength and determination to become a real winner.”

Falkner handed her a box like the one the HM flash came in, though it was a different color. “That is a TM, or technical machine. It’s actually TM 51, also known as roost.” Krisa nodded thinking of the move his Pidgeotto used to heal. Yes, she would definitely use that on Flappy. “So, now where are you heading?”

“I…I’m not sure,” Krisa stated. She hadn’t really thought much further than getting to Violet City and finding her brother. _I have got to start thinking things through,_ she scolded herself.

“May I suggest Azalea Town?” Falkner replied. “With your Pidgey and Cyndaquil, that gym should be the perfect training.”

“I think I will head there,” Krisa said with a smile and nod, thankful for the guidance.

Falkner returned her smile and held his hand out. The two shook hands before Falkner said, “Good luck. Now, go forward in your journey and trust your Pokémon.”

“I do,” she assured him. “Thanks.”

Krisa and Ethan headed out of the gym and Falkner watched them until they were out of sight. He still couldn’t place Krisa. Shrugging, he returned to his gym office to do some paperwork. He would need to finish that off and head to the Pokémon Center right after.

* * *

“That was amazing!” Ethan exclaimed. “I haven’t seen a battle that good for a while. I’m glad I was able to see it.”

Krisa smiled slightly and quietly said, “Thank you. It was actually kind of nice to have a friend watching me. I-“

Just then, Krisa’s Pokégear went off and Krisa saw that Professor Elm was calling her. “Hello?” she spoke into the gear.

 _“Krisa, great new!”_ the professor said excitedly. _“We found out something about the egg.”_

“What?” Krisa asked causing Ethan to attempt to listen into the conversation. She pushed his head away silently chuckling as his dejected expression.

_“We think that the egg will only hatch if with other Pokémon and a trainer. We’d like you to carry it around with you to see what will happen. Can you do that for us?”_

“Yeah, of course,” Krisa responded. A huge wave of relief passed over her. She had to do this for Professor Elm after lying to him. If it would help with his research, she would do it.

_“Great! Then my assistant will meet you at the Pokémart in Violet City.”_

Krisa clicked a button on her Pokégear when the call ended and explained to Ethan what Professor Elm was asking of her. “That’s amazing. Eggs are very rare.”

“Are they?” Krisa asked. She had known that Mr. Pokémon had said something similar, so she thought Ethan could be right. She then looked at the time and realized that his assistant would be there in a while. She had just enough time to go to the Pokémon Center before meeting him at the Pokémart. “We should go to the Pokémon Center,” she suggested. “I want to make sure my Pokémon are recovered.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ethan stated. “I’ll go with you to the Pokémart later.”

* * *

Later, Krisa made her way over to the Pokémart. Ethan had stayed behind when he had gotten another phone call from his grandparents regarding travel arrangements, especially after he missed the car service. He felt the need to explain about his journey with his friend Krisa and how that was more appealing to him than being driven around in a car. When Krisa got to the Pokémart, the aide was already there with the egg in hand.

“Krisa!” the man greeted. “It’s good to see you. Sorry to interrupt your journey being only a few days in.”

Krisa smiled but waved him off. “Don’t worry about it,” she answered with Flappy flying next to her. “I’m happy I wasn’t further so you didn’t have to make a long trip.”

The man chuckled before he handed Krisa the Pokémon Egg. Krisa felt that the egg was so light. It was amazing that there was actually a Pokémon inside of it. “I heard Professor Elm on the phone,” the aide told her. “I don’t know who it was, but he was pretty excited to be sending the egg with you. Said there was no one more suited for the task than you. I believe Professor Elm has a lot of faith in you.”

Krisa forced herself not to tear up. Her brown eyes glazed over with unshed tears as she thanked the aide for delivering the egg. She told him to say “hello” to her mother and to Professor Elm’s family for her and he assured her he would. After he left, Krisa was about ready to go find Ethan.

Before she could take a step, a woman dressed in a kimono walked up to her and looked at the egg. The lady covered her mouth to conceal a quiet laugh when she saw Krisa’s confused expression. “Me oh my,” she said in a gentle yet chiming voice. “So this is the egg that was handed from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, and then from Professor Elm to you. That egg is truly an important one. Please take care of it for me, understood? I am counting on you.”

The woman then danced away after her request. Krisa had no idea what had just happened or why the woman was asking her to take care of the egg. It was as if there was something about the egg that Krisa didn’t understand. Before she could linger on the thought, Ethan came up to her.

“Darn, I missed the aide,” he muttered. “And I was going to ask him to ask the Professor a question.” He shrugged. “Eh, well. Anyways, that egg doesn’t look like any egg I’ve ever seen. What did they tell you about it?”

“Just that it would hatch if it was with a trainer,” Krisa replied. “Why?”

“Well, that’s partially true,” Ethan told her. “Eggs should be with trainers, but they need to be in a safe, cushioned container. I happen to have one.” He took out a case that looked almost like glass from his pack and then took the egg from Krisa. He gently placed it in the container, closed it, and handed to his friend. “Just be very careful ‘cause eggs are fragile. Anyways, it’ll glow when it’s ready to hatch and then you can take it out.”

Krisa was amazed by her friend’s instructions. “How do you know so much about Pokémon eggs?” she asked.

That question caused Ethan to grin. “My grandparents own a Daycare Center near Goldenrod. They’re both breeders, so I’ve seen a lot of Pokémon eggs.” He looked up to the sky and saw that the sky was becoming orange. “We should start heading to Azalea now,” he told her. “We can set up camp when it gets dark.”

Krisa nodded and agreed. After finding Silver and not being able to find Petrel, she figured it would be better to just push forward. Besides, nothing bad had happened in Violet City, so maybe her brother wasn’t too involved after all.

* * *

On the road to Azalea, Ethan told Krisa he wanted to train for a little while, searching for random Pokémon. They agreed to meet up by the Ruins of Alph later and decide where to set up camp. Krisa decided to go right to the welcome center to the ruins and sat down at a table trying to regroup her thoughts. Flappy nudged her, concerned for his trainer. He knew that not finding Petrel was taking its toll on the girl. The Pokémon had been with the girl since she was much, much younger.

An old man walked up to the girl. “Hello there, young lady,” he greeted warmly.

Krisa jolted slightly before looking up to him and smiling back. “Hi.”

“What are you doing just sitting around here?” he asked. “You do know that the free tour of the ruins starts in a few minutes.” Krisa actually hadn’t known that. She shook her head and the old man chuckled. “You should check it out. You might learn something about the ruins that you hadn’t before.”

Looking at her Pokégear, Krisa realized that she still had some time before Ethan would want to meet up. “Let’s go on a tour, Flappy,” she said to her Pidgey as the bird perched itself on her shoulder.

* * *

“And as you can see, in this room there are movable stone panels that many have tried to solve,” a woman dressed in a lab coat said. Krisa looked around the small cavern, studying the walls. It was hard to believe anyone was able to build this place by hand. Going on the tour had been a great experience for her, something to stop her from thinking like a child and thinking more like a scientist.

The tour group was small, maybe five or six individuals at most. They were all tourists, just looking for some mild entertainment after a long day of travel. Krisa, however, was more interested in the panels. She broke away from the tour group, staring at the stone panels a little too long. She hadn’t even noticed when the group left the cavern.

Flappy looked over his trainer’s shoulder, watching as she started to rotate the pieces. Krisa didn’t really know what she was doing, but found that when rotated a certain way, the panels fit into stone spaces, and it also looked like a picture was forming as well.

As she continued to rotate and fit the pieces in the picture and eventually it formed the picture of a Kabuto. Now, Krisa had never seen a Kabuto, but she remembered reading books in Professor Elm’s lab and seeing pictures or these ancient Pokémon. They were not Pokémon from the Johto area, so why did he ruins depict them?

Before Krisa could voice her inner thought, the etching began to glow and a light consumed the room before walls began to collapse. “Flappy,” Krisa called out once the building had caved in. It was dark, and the girl couldn’t see even an inch in front of her face. “Flappy, are you okay?”

She heard her Pidgey respond, but couldn’t see very well. Flappy nudged her arm to let her know he was there. Thanks to his own ability of keen eye, he could see very well. Krisa decided to call Flare out. The flame on his back would provide light for her to see. They needed to find a way out of the cave.

Once Flare’s flame lit the cavern, Krisa noticed that there was another doorway that hadn’t been there before the collapse of the cavern. She decided to investigate, seeing as it was the only way out of the room that she could find. Inside the new room the door led to, the glow revealed a message carved onto the floor. “‘Our clan engraved words in this place,’” Krisa read out loud. “Weird.”

Well, there wasn’t any other way out, and that was when Krisa remembered the escape rope she had found at Sprout Tower. She decided to give it a try but, the second she took it out, the floor underneath her collapsed and she and her Pokémon when careening through the floor.

Slightly shaken up, Krisa stands though feels like standing will be a struggle. Flappy helps to keep her standing. When another voice called out to her, she nearly screamed.

“Did you fall through a hole too?”

Krisa turned to face a teenager dressed a tan jacket and khakis wearing a tan helmet that contrasted his lavender-colored hair. “Yes, I did,” she answered cautiously. “You too?”

The teen nodded and grinned. “You must have solved one of the puzzles. No tourist has ever done that. You could be an archeologist you know.”

Krisa blushed slightly at the praise. That was one word to describe how the teen looked. He must have been an archeologist to make such claims. Out of nowhere, he handed her a device that almost looked like a computer tablet.

“It’s an Unown Report,” he told her as she studied it. “Try filling it up.”

“Filling it up with what?” Krisa questioned. But the scientist merely smiled and waved to her.

“You’ll see,” was all Krisa heard as the strange scientist ran off into the darkness.

Thankfully, Krisa still had Flare. She and her two Pokémon walked around the stone corridors. All there was in these halls were statues of Pokémon in the center of the halls and strange markings on the walls. These dark halls were starting to give Krisa the creeps as she felt as if a presence was watching her. She knew that couldn’t be right, but she couldn’t help but worry about why she was feeling this way.

She stopped at one of the walls where it seemed the strange feeling she had was beginning to increase. “Flare,” she called out softly, “come over here.”

Flare listened and moved next to the girl, the stone walls illuminated in the light of its flame. It revealed to Krisa and her Pokémon a painting with many letters like the ones they had seen in the other room. Krisa started to walk away from the strange lettering not noticing the letters popping off of the wall where she had been standing. Krisa didn’t notice the letters following her; however, Flappy, who could see very well in the dimly lit room, could see them and called out in alarm to his trainer.

“Huh?” Krisa breathed out before something crashed into her. Thinking it was another Pokémon trapped along with them, Krisa moved to help it but was shocked when she saw what had bumped into her. It was a Pokémon, but it looked like the lettering from the walls. It was shaped like an H.

Quickly, Krisa scooped up Flare into her arms and ran with Flappy flying next to her. The H started following them, but they were managing to outrun the letter. That is, until more letters appeared and crashed into the young girl. They surrounded the three of them, looking quite agitated. Krisa wondered why these letters, evidently Pokémon, were bothered by her presence. Then she realized they must have seen her arrival as some sort of intrusion. When lights started flashing around them, she assumed they were ready to attack her and her Pokémon.

She got over the initial shock of the etchings coming to life and attacking her sending both Flappy and Flare out to attack them before the letters unleashed their unknown powers. Maybe this had been what the archeologist had been talking about when he had given her the Unown Report. Did it have something to do with these strange letters?

Despite the combined efforts of Flappy and Flare, the two Pokémon were being bogged down by the hidden power these letters possessed. Krisa thought it would be best to send out more Pokémon in order to give her partners a fighting edge. She sent Frighty and Flit out to defend Flappy and Flare. The lick and confusion attacks of her Gastly and Butterfree could give her team the opening they needed.

One of the Unown that looked like an F went after her. Flare defended her only to be hit with the hidden power. To both Krisa’s and Flare’s shock, the attack barely did anything to him. Flare used that to his advantage and used ember against the Unown F. The Pokémon was weakened, so Krisa attempted to catch it. Three Pokéballs were wasted as the Unown F dodged each one. Finally, as the Pokémon was distracted by the other letters being knocked out by Krisa’s team, the fourth Pokéball did the trick and captured the Unown F.

Not wanting to have a repeat of the battle, Krisa recalled Flit and Frighty, and then she and Flappy, led by Flare’s light rushed out of the ruins. Somehow, getting to the exit seemed a whole lot easier now. The light of day was a welcomed sight despite the setting sun. Krisa looked up to the orange and pink sky in relief before deciding to check her Pokédex and the Unown Report.

She had been expecting to see a picture of the Unown F in her Pokédex, but saw that it was a picture of the first Unown she saw, the H. However, on her Unown Report, she only had data for Unown F. Under its ability, it displayed the word “FIND.” Krisa looked over to her confused Pokémon, and they all shared shrugs. Obviously, they weren’t going to get any answers now. Krisa reasoned that once she had more answers, she’d return, but for now she needed to meet up with Ethan.

“Let’s go meet up with Ethan, guys,” she said to her Pokémon. The three of them started to walk off, but Krisa froze as she thought she heard someone calling out to her. She shrugged it off, marking it as exhaustion from the day she and her partners had.

* * *

Falkner was doing some paperwork regarding permits for the gym and renewing his contract as gym leader. While he was focused on the logistics of his job, his work Pokégear went off. The leader sighed and answered the call.

“You realize it’s my day off, right?” he asked the officer on the other end. As the man began to tell him the problem, Officer Falkner’s face became serious. “What?”

The other officer was calling to inform him of a crime that took place, but even stranger than the crime was that the perpetrators were already captured. A call had been received at the precinct that four young men dressed as Team Rocket operatives had been captured. It was reported that they had been tied up with an escape rope and left behind the Trainer School. Whoever had caught them was nowhere to be found.

Officer Falkner knew what he needed to do, day off or no day off. “I’ll be right there,” he told his colleague. “Don’t alert the other cities yet. We can’t be sure if this is a prank or if Team Rocket is really back.” He hung up the Pokégear and thought for a moment. If these men were really Team Rocket grunts, and Team Rocket was already back in power, thinks in the Johto region were going to get complicated.


	4. Johto Arc: Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won’t follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD Also Silver, Gold, and Crystal. Ah Silver…my first videogame :3)

Krisa, after her strange mishap at the Ruins of Alph, was on her way to meet Ethan. On route to the river they were meeting by, Krisa got into a few battles with other trainers. She even caught a Mareep and some other Pokémon that were transferred back to the lab using a device on her Pokégear. The river flowed by swiftly; Krisa watched the water rushing. Ethan showed up minutes later and snuck up on his friend, scaring her and making her squeal.

“Why would you do that?” she asked in irritation. She was still quite shaken up by the Unown attack.

“Haha,” Ethan laughed rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry. Didn’t expect you to get upset.” Krisa smiled slightly at the apology. “So, I guess we should set up camp here. I’ll set up the tents and you get the firewood.”

Krisa saluted him playfully and said, “Sound like a plan. We’ll be back.”

Ethan watched as Krisa ran off with her Pidgey before he got to work in setting up their tents.

That evening, they were sitting around a campfire that Krisa and Flare set up. Krisa was holding her egg on her lap while Flappy and Flare cuddled up close to her. _I wonder what’s going to hatch from it,_ she wondered silently to herself.

Ethan catch her staring in wonder at the egg and smile. He knew what she was thinking. Having been around Pokémon eggs all of his life, Ethan knew she was probably trying to guess what Pokémon would hatch from it. He wasn’t planning on showing off, but it would probably be better for Krisa to train alongside the unknown Pokémon from the start of her journey. It would only serve to strengthen their bond later.

“Hey, Krisa,” he called, “let me see the egg.”

Krisa was confused, but she handed Ethan the egg wondering what he planned to do. She watched as her friend took out a terrycloth and started polishing the egg gently. After a few minutes, the egg started flashing between its normal color and a blinding, white light. _I-it’s…hatching already?_

As the light became the only color, the beams shot out and the egg began to change shape. After the shaped changed from an oval to a rounded Pokémon with a pointed head, the light dissipated and a Pokémon that looked like it was stuck in an egg began to look around. It zeroed in on its trainer and tackled Krisa to the ground. “Wow, you’re strong for a little guy, aren’t you?” she asked her new Pokémon. “What do I call you?”

She took out her Pokédex and it gave her the species name and data regarding this small, egg Pokémon. “Togepi, huh?” She looked over to Ethan who was grinning with pride. “What did you do?”

Ethan chuckled slightly. “Cool, huh? I developed some sort of ability after spending so much time at my grandparents’ daycare. I only noticed it a few years ago. Eggs would hatch a lot quicker after I took time to clean and polish them. My grandparents’ called it my ‘golden touch.’ It earned me the nickname Gold.”

Krisa was staring at the boy with wide eyes. “That’s…amazing.” She looked to her Togepi and smiled. “Thanks. Now I have another friend to join me…wait, that’s it!”

It was Gold’s turn to be confused. “What’s it?”

“Its name,” Krisa clarified. “I’m going to name him Friendship.” Then she thought about the aide and Professor Elm. “I should probably let the professor know the egg hatched.”

Gold’s eyes lit up when she mentioned Professor Elm. He had heard about the young professor while listening to Professor Oak and Mary’s radio show before he had come to New Bark Town. Gold had been a child at the time, but the way Professor Elm talked about Pokémon had amazed him. The man truly had a connection to Pokémon and trainers alike while also being able to communicate with other professors. His research was all about Pokémon eggs and evolution as well which was very beneficial for the young breeder.

“Yeah, the egg hatched,” he heard Krisa say into her Pokégear. “Come to the lab? Um, I guess that’s okay. I’m not _too_ far away. Just outside of Violet City. I’ll head back in the morning. See you tomorrow.”

Krisa looked over to her friend, but was confused when she saw him smirking. “What?” she asked hesitantly.

“I am so going with you tomorrow,” he told her. “Meeting Professor Elm would be amazing.”

Krisa chuckled but nodded in acceptance. “Why are you so interested in Professor Elm, anyway?”

Gold lied back on the grass, looking up at the stars. “Like I said,” he started, “I have the ability to cause eggs to hatch. My grandparents own a Pokémon daycare. Professor Elm’s research is all about eggs and evolution. It’s stuff I’ll have to learn about one day, but honestly I just want to know what he’s been able to find out about Pokémon eggs that I don’t know already.”

Krisa thought about it and understood right away. Since she was always interested in evolution, Professor Elm’s research interested her. “Anyways, I’m going to bed,” Gold said enthusiastically before heading into his tent. “See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Gold,” Krisa said trying out his nickname. Gold paused going into the tent, smiling slightly at her using his nickname.

“Good night, Krisa.”

* * *

The next morning, the two children headed back towards New Bark Town. As they were walking, Krisa learned that Gold also came from New Bark Town, but spent most of his time near Goldenrod helping out at his grandparents’ daycare. Their random small talk made the walk seem shorter and, before they knew it, they were walking into the lab, though it was early afternoon when they had finally arrived.

“Ah, Krisa, there you are,” Professor Elm greeted as he was getting files from a box on the top of one of his shelves. “Oh, and I see you’ve brought a friend.”

“Yeah,” Krisa said with a smile. “This is Ethan.”

“Yeah, nickname’s Gold. It’s great to meet you.”

“Ethan…” Professor Elm muttered as he climbed down his ladder. “Ethan, Ethan, Ethan, Ethan…why does that name seem so familiar?” Once his feet were planted firmly on the ground, he tapped his pointer finger against his chin before realization flooded into him. “Ah, I know. Ethan, as in Jovi’s boy.” Ethan looked shocked when the professor mentioned his mother’s name. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, too. I heard you were on your way to Goldenrod.”

Gold looked a little guilty, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, got sidetracked. So anyway, you’re doing research on the egg you gave Krisa, right? What kind of research.”

“Ah, the egg!” Professor Elm exclaimed remembering the reason for this visit. “Let me see. What Pokémon was it?”

Krisa took out her Pokéball that held Friendship and tossed it into the air. The Togepi appeared and Professor Elm took out a Pokédex and read the information. “Hey, what’s that?” Gold asked when he saw the mini computer.

“It’s a Pokédex,” Krisa told him taking out her own. “It’s a small computer that collects data on Pokémon you’ve seen and captured. It has something to do with Professor Oak’s research.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“Yes, your mother said you were highly interested in Pokémon and breeding,” Elm mused. “Say, from a breeding standpoint, was sending the egg to a trainer a good call?”

God shrugged slightly, but didn’t look convincing when he said, “Yeah, it was. Just, it should have been carried in a special egg case. You see, it reduces the eggs movements when someone is travelling. I had one, though, so that helped.”

Professor Elm smiled at the boy, nodding in understanding to his words. “That’s an excellent tip. I’ll keep that in mind. Since you seem to know a lot about Pokémon, especially in a way a scientist wouldn’t think of, would you like to join Krisa in helping with mine and Professor Oak’s research? I’m sure this Pokédex would get more use with you.”

“You’re kidding,” Gold replied. “You really want me to help.”

Elm nodded. “It would be beneficial for both me and Professor Oak. What do you say?”

“Heck yeah, I’ll help!” Gold exclaimed.

“Great,” Professor Elm said handing the Pokédex over to him. “Then take this, and also, I think the last Pokémon I was researching would benefit from travelling with a trainer.” He moved to get the Pokéball from his desk and handed it to Gold. “This one is called Chikorita.”

As the grass Pokémon was released from the ball, it appeared in front of Gold and Krisa. Letting out a happy cry, the Chikorita ran to Gold and nuzzled against his leg. While Gold was bonding with his new Pokémon, Professor Elm handed a rounded stone to Krisa. “And this is for you, as thanks for helping me with that egg.”

“An evolutionary stone?” Krisa asked hopefully.

Professor Elm chuckled at Krisa’s eagerness. “Not quite,” he replied. “This is actually an everstone. You give it to your Pokémon to prevent evolution. It’s used by Pokémon researchers when they are interested in studying a specific form of a Pokémon for longer as well as seeing what moves a Pokémon learns at different levels without evolving.”

Krisa took the stone, though she was sure she wouldn’t have need for that type of stone in her travels. If there ever was a Pokémon, though, that she wanted to study more intently, she would have a way and for that she was thankful. “I must say,” Elm stated breaking Krisa out of her thoughts, “that you definitely have a talent for research, Krisa. Big things are going to happen with you. You’ll be able to take any challenge with your Pokémon. I’m sure of it!”

_"For a new trainer, you and your Pokémon work surprisingly well together. They know what you all need when you need it, and that connection is something you will need in future challenges.”_

Krisa was instantly reminded of Sage Li’s words back at Sprout Tower. At the time, she just deemed them words that Li would have said to anyone, but now Professor Elm was saying something similar. Two people, one who knew her well and one who knew her from one battle, both said that something big was going to happen with her, that there would be challenges she would face in the future. Krisa, however, had only planned on stopping her brother and taking on the Pokémon League Challenge. She was prepared for the difficulty of the league, but she was hoping that talking to her brother would be easy. Now, she felt uncertainty creeping into her heart. She had just assumed Petrel would listen to her. She never considered what would happen if he ignored her pleas.

“…So before you go, you should visit your mother,” Professor Elm said as an afterthought to something Krisa missed while she was having her minor debate.

“Yeah, I will,” she said with a strained voice and forced smile. Gold and his new Pokémon both noticed something change around the girl. He didn’t voice his concern, though, because he wasn’t certain yet if something was bothering his friend, and he certainly didn’t want to ask with an audience.

* * *

After Krisa and Gold said their goodbyes to Professor Elm, Krisa started walking on a path to her house. Gold was shocked when he saw that not only was her house next door from the lab, but that it was only about a block away from his.

“We’re neighbors?” he asked in surprise. “Well, that just means we’ll have to hang out more when we’re both back here.”

Krisa looked taken aback but then smiled and giggled. “Well, we’ll be hanging out all the way to Goldenrod, so you don’t have to worry about that. Anyways, I just want to check on my mom, grab some of my money for supplies, and then head back out.”

Gold nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Besides, I want to get to training Chica here.” Chica, which Krisa assumed to be the nickname of his new Pokémon, made high-pitched cheers in response to his statement. Despite the Pokémon’s small appearance, it seemed to be just as feisty as its new trainer.

Krisa didn’t bother to knock on the door before entering her home. “Mom?” she called inside questioningly before entering the building. Gold followed her in and looked around.

The mother in question came out from her room and smiled brightly. “Krisa, I wasn’t expecting to see you home so soon,” Lyra said warmly. “I see you brought a friend with you as well.” She walked over to the two kids and smiled when she recognized Ethan. “Krisa, what have I told you?” she teased. “You’re not supposed to date until you’re at least sixteen years old.”

Both Krisa’s and Gold’s faces turned red as Krisa scolded her mother. “That’s not it at all!” she exclaimed. “We just ran into each other. And I had to come back because I needed to do something for Professor Elm.”

“Krisa, I’m only kidding, sweetie. I know Ethan. You’ve really grown up. I bet your mother is proud.”

Gold chuckled slightly at his friend’s exasperated expression. “I guess,” he replied.

Lyra turned her attention back to her daughter and said, “I’m actually glad you came home. I have some money I’ve been saving for you. You might need it for more supplies.”

The mother placed the money in her daughter’s hand, forcing Krisa to take it. After some more teasing was out of the way, Lyra made lunch for the two kids before they headed back to Cherrygrove.

* * *

Krisa was feeling drained and stressed by the time they reached Cherrygrove. She had made this journey just the other day to find her brother and failed. Now she was stuck because of her obligations. Petrel hadn’t been in Violet City from what she had seen, but that didn’t mean his business there never transpired. If she wanted to find him and talk to him about his involvement with Team Rocket, she needed to reach him. He wasn’t back at home so that only meant one thing.

He went on further.

She knew she needed to get to Azalea Town quickly if that was the case, but she couldn’t just come out and say that to her friend. Gold would want to know why they needed to rush. To protect her brother, she couldn’t say anything. Instead she had to wait with him. They would need to stop over in Cherrygrove for the night. It was already starting to get dark. Krisa didn’t know what to do.

“You okay, Krisa?” Gold asked noticing the girl’s unease.

Krisa jumped when he asked her the question. Was she really being that obvious? Well, he had already called her out on it, so she was going to need to say something. “I just feel like I’m back at square one,” she admitted. It wasn’t a lie; she just wasn’t telling him the full truth, not yet.

Gold frowned slightly, definitely understanding how Krisa feels. He always made the journey between New Bark Town and Goldenrod City on his own to visit his grandparents and check on his mom. Once his talents were noticed by his grandparents, they always wanted his help at the daycare center. The only reason he went other than enjoying the city life and seeing his grandmother, Gold only went so often because his mother encouraged him. Truth was, Gold did want to be a breeder, but he did not want to stay in one spot forever. Still, he wanted to make both his grandparents and mother happy, though he hated leaving his mother alone for so long like his father had. That was why he made these constant trips.

He looked around the Pokémon center at the other trainers and another girl caught his eye. This girl was tall, blonde, and older, and she was also a customer from his grandparents’ daycare. She owed him a favor.

“Hey, Cara!” Gold exclaimed bringing both Krisa’s and Cara’s attention to him.

The teenager saw him and smiled. “Well, if it isn’t my good buddy, Gold,” Cara greeted also muttering a quick “hey” to Krisa. “What brings you back to Cherrygrove? Visiting your mom again?”

“Nah, business,” Gold said, while waving his real reason off, trying to act cool. “How’s that Dewgong working out for you?”

“I was amazed at how much it learned at the daycare,” Cara replied. “I’m really glad you were able to drop it off for me. Work has been getting more hectic lately.”

“No doubt,” Gold responded nonchalantly. “Speaking of which, when does your shift start?”

“Not for a couple hours, why?” Cara asked. Krisa looked to Gold like he was nuts for asking this woman any kind of question.

“I was wondering if you could do me and my friend a favor,” he started. “You see, we were on our way to Azalea when…”

Krisa couldn’t believe that Gold had managed to get them a ride back to Violet City. The girl, Cara, had been planning to work the late night shift as she had explained to Gold, but she was more than happy to take an extra twenty minutes to drive the two back to Violet to cut their time in half. There was still a little light outside, just enough to give them time to get back to where they had been the previous night. They decide that this time they will stay overnight at the Pokémon center since they reach it as it gets dark and have no time to set up camp. Their plan, to continue to Azalea Town the next day with Krisa secretly hoping that she can catch up to her brother in time.

* * *

In the morning, the two ate breakfast that the Pokémon center offered to travelling trainers. Many different trainers, hikers and fishermen and even picnickers and campers, were all in the Pokémon center cafeteria. “I can’t believe how many people are here,” Krisa marveled. “I’ve never seen this many people in one place.”

Gold chuckled at the girl’s reaction. “If you think this is impressive, just wait until you see Goldenrod. It’s a huge city. This is nothing, just some passersby hanging around this spot.” Krisa looked at Gold, waiting for more on an explanation sensing there was more. “Because of the cave to Azalea, hikers journey here to explore. Since there’s a small lake, fishermen gather. That doesn’t even begin to cover all the newer trainers, students taking a break from the Pokémon Academy, or tourists visiting the ruins. Route 32 is a hotspot, that’s for sure.”

The blue-haired girl hadn’t really thought about all of that. Her sole focus had been finding her brother and finding Silver. She hadn’t even really explored Violet City much and didn’t pay attention to the people. And then there was Professor Elm’s research and the gym. If she hadn’t had that, she wouldn’t have even gone to the Pokémart to meet the aide. Maybe instead of stressing out over her predicament, she should take a page from Gold’s book and actually observe more.

“Hey, you kids!” Krisa and Gold looked to see a man heading their way laughing. “Those fish are really biting today, huh?”

Krisa blushed slightly feeling a little awkward about the sentiment. She didn’t want to ruin the man’s good mood. “We wouldn’t know,” Gold spoke up, shrugging. “Neither of us are fishermen. I don’t even own a pole. What about you, Krisa?” Krisa pursed her lips shut and shook her head nervously.

“That’s too bad,” the fisherman said. “Young people really should fish more. Hey, I have an idea!” The man took two of his poles, both happened to look incredibly small and beat up. “These are some of my old rods. I’ll give these to you so that you young folk can appreciate the art of fishing.”

 _Fishing’s art?_ Gold wanted to say, but before he could old rods and lure balls were placed in front of them.

“Here kids,” the fisherman said. “Enjoy! Maybe you’ll end up being fishermen too!”

The jovial man sauntered away leaving the two stunned children with their new equipment. “Yeah, not likely,” Gold muttered in response to the older man’s comment. Krisa stifled a giggle, hiding behind her hand. “So yeah, that happened. I guess we can take a break and try out the rods. Besides, these lure balls help in catching hooked Pokémon.”

“Really?” Krisa asked.

Her naivety caused Gold to laugh. “Man, Krisa, have you ever left New Bark Town before?”

Krisa frowned and turned away from Gold causing the boy’s playful expression to sour. “We haven’t gone anywhere since I was a kid, not since…”

Gold could sense that his friend was sad and, where he became curious as to why, he wanted to make her feel better. “Hey, we should get out there while there’re still fish.” He got up and pulled Krisa up, starting to push her to the door. “I saw a ton of those fisher guys heading out there.”

Krisa mentally sighed and grumbled, “Why do I feel like you’re always pushing me around?”

* * *

Gold and Krisa were headed to the lake when Krisa noticed a girl hiding behind the Pokémon center. “Gold, who do you suppose that is?”

The dark-haired boy looked to where Krisa was and saw a girl with black hair hiding in the bushes and giggling. She looked to be about their age in her frilly pink dress. Her deep, violet eyes showed so much mirth. The fact that she was hiding seemed to be entertaining her.

The two walked up behind her though she wasn’t aware she had company. “Hey there!” Gold greeted enthusiastically causing the girl to jump and Krisa to smack him, irritated that he startled the girl.

The girl, though, was not frightened in the least. Instead, she turned around and smiled widely at them. “Well hi there!” she exclaimed. “Today is Friday! It’s my favorite day!”

“Is it, now?” Gold asked with a chuckle. “Who are you?”

“I’m Frieda,” she answered. “Frieda of Friday. I’m one of seven siblings, and we give gifts to trainers who can find us.” She took out two harpoon-looking objects dusted with a purple dust. “Take these poison barbs. They’re supposed to make poison type moves that much better. Anyways, now I have to find a new hiding place since you two found me. Have a happy Friday!”

Frieda disappeared into the bushes after that leaving two confounded children behind. “The heck just happened?” Gold questioned his friend as the two of them looked to the barbs in their hand.

“I have no idea,” Krisa responded. She looked to the barb and studied it. “One of seven siblings, huh? Must be one strange family.”

“What family isn’t strange?” her friend joked.

Krisa responded with a small smile. She couldn’t really answer his question.

* * *

The two children were close to the lake. They could hear the shifting waves as well as the giddy cheers of fishermen. Surprisingly, they felt excited at the prospect of learning to fish. They figured they could even catch new water Pokémon to work more on the Pokédex. Before they reached the water, they were met with a heavyset man, and he said something that greatly angered Gold.

“You kids look like you’re a long way from home,” he said with a tinge of humor in his voice. “How would you each like to buy some tasty, nutritious Slowpoke Tail? It’s only 1,000,000 yen.”

Gold’s normally good-humored expression darkened into a rage that Krisa didn’t expect to see in her friend. “How dare you? Do you know how painful that is for the Slowpoke?”

The man glared at the boy and asked, “What are you going on about? The tails grow back. It doesn’t affect them at all. They’re just dumb, little blobs.”

“Oh that’s it!” Gold exclaimed. “It’s people like you that I can’t stand! I’ll-“

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

The three turned to see a ranger standing there with his hands on his hips. “Oh, nothing, nothing,” the weird salesman replied a little too quickly. He turned to the kids and said, “Have a good day, young travelers,” before running off.

The ranger sighed and shook his head. “That’s the third guy I found trying to sell travelers banned goods around here. I’m getting worried.”

Krisa was thankful that the ranger had shown up when he had. If he hadn’t, she was sure Gold was going to punch the salesman. His fist was clenched and shaking at his side the entire time, and Krisa was worried about what the young boy had planned to do. Yes, what the salesman was doing was cruel, but it would have been really bad if Gold had gone down with him for attacking him.

Gold sighed and somewhat ordered Krisa to follow him as they got closer to the lake. Fishing was definitely an activity that they both hoped would distract the boy from his anger.

* * *

With the old rods, both children were only able to reel in Magikarp. Even though Magikarp were considered to be weak by many trainers, the ones they caught were very tough and they had to battle together to make sure they got away without bruises from powerful tackles. When the two kids had raced away with their Pokémon, they fell to the ground in relief and began laughing at the ridiculousness of their antics.

“Well, if it isn’t the young kids I ran into,” the fisherman from before greeted with a chuckle. “I see you two have been having some fun.”

“Yeah,” Krisa replied sitting up. “Thank you for the rods, by the way. We’ve been enjoying fishing.”

The fisherman smiled at her and said, “It’s no problem, girlie. Say, you two are trainers, right?”

“Yup,” Gold answered. “We are, why?”

“How’s about the two of you join me and my bud in a double battle?” the fisherman suggested. “We have so much energy and our Pokémon seem to be feeding off of it. What’dya say?”

Krisa and Gold exchanged determined glances and nodded to each other before looking to their challenger. “You’ve got a battle,” they accepted in unison.

The fisherman called over his friend and the two of them stood opposite from Krisa and Gold on the bridge. Other fishermen gathered around to watch the battle. They were all very anxious to see what their fellow fishermen had caught.

“Alright, kids, let’s go!” the fisherman declared as he sent out his Poliwag and his partner sent out a Goldeen.

“Chica, go!” Gold called sending out his new Pokémon. Likewise, Krisa simply looked at Flappy and the Pidgey instantly knew what she wanted.

“Flappy, gust!” Krisa ordered as a gust of wind stirred the water of the lake. The gust attack hit the Poliwag dead on as Gold ordered Chica to use bullet seed. As the bullets pelted the two opponents, Poliwag used water gun to push Flappy back while Goldeen took a few hits to peck Chica. Flappy tackled Goldeen to get the Pokémon away from Chica taking on its peck attack.

“Chica, razor leaf!” Gold exclaimed as an army of leaves fired at the two opponents, knocking both of them out.

The fishermen called their Pokémon back and grinned. “Impressive team work, kids,” the first one said. “You two must be really close to be that in sync.”

Krisa and Gold just exchanged smiles before Krisa said, “Thank you very much for the fishing stuff and the battle. We enjoyed it.”

“Aw,” the second fisherman said, “what a polite, young girl. It was our pleasure, miss.”

“Welp, we should head off for Azalea now, but this was some much needed stress relief,” Gold joked. “See ya, fisher guys!”

He grabbed Krisa’s arm and started dashing for the cave, their Pokémon following close behind them. Once they reached the cave, the sun was already setting. They decided it would be best to set up camp near the cave and get a fresh start the next day. Besides, their Pokémon were tired from the recent training and battle. Waiting one more day wouldn’t make a difference, and Krisa was finally starting to realize that. She knew she had to stop rushing into things unprepared.

* * *

Ariana sighed when she came across Proton explaining to the new grunts what they would be doing at the Slowpoke Well. “We need the funds to keep Team Rocket going,” he explained to them. “If you have anything against cutting their tails, tough. We can’t always do what we want; this is necessity. You are all dismissed.”

The grunts looked to each other, not wanting to question their supervisor, and walked out of the room. “Very nice,” Ariana muttered. “You’re not supposed to scare the new members away.”

“They’re fine, Ariana,” Proton chuckled. Then he noted her serious expression. “What?”

She hesitated before she answered. Her promise to Petrel was nagging in the back of her mind, but this was for the good of the team. A warning needed to be given. “There is rumor of a young girl who wants to interfere with the team,” she lied. “Just be wary. We wouldn’t want anything to go awry at the well.”

“A little girl?” Proton asked before he started laughing in amusement. “Ariana, you worry about the strangest things. If anyone goes against us, let’s just say I won’t be too nice about it. Nothing to worry about.” Ariana watched as he started to leave the room. “A little girl,” he jeered. “Ridiculous.”

Ariana shook her head, knowing she had broken her promise, but at least she knew nothing would interfere with their mission. Still, she was a little concerned when Proton made his threat. The girl meant nothing to her. If that was the case, then why did her heart skip a beat the moment Proton threatened her life?

* * *

Krisa and Gold made it through the cave in record time, and Krisa had captured a new Pokémon, a Sandshrew that she named Famon. She planned to send Feisty to New Bark Town so that she could train Famon some more. The two children had planned to stop for lunch once they got out of the cave, but were shocked to find it pouring in the area.

“Let’s run to the Pokémon center!” Gold called over the heavy sound of rain beating down on the pavement with Chica in his arms and his Aipom, Aibo, on his shoulder.

“Right!” Krisa answered recalling Flare, now a Quilava, back into its Pokéball and being followed by Flappy.

Neither of them noticed that they were being followed by a man dressed in black. The Team Rocket agent was told to scare off any travelers that went anywhere near Azalea, and now it was time to prove himself.

* * *

Silver was wrapped in a black cloak, his Sneasel walking next to him, as the two calmly made their way to the Pokémon center. The rain never really bothered Silver. It was just a nuisance, but he was learning to deal with those. Team Rocket itself was the biggest nuisance.

The sound of people talking stopped Silver in his stride. For some reason, it took hold of his attention and he couldn’t ignore it. He and Sneasel exchanged knowing glances before heading to the sound of the voices. They were led to the Slowpoke Well, and the voices were coming from a middle-aged, male citizen of Azalea Town and a Team Rocket grunt.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the citizen asked.

The grunt glared at the man and growled. “I don’t have to answer to you! You should go back to your precious town before someone gets hurt.”

“Y-you look like you’re a part of that gang, Team Rocket, that caused problems in Kanto three years ago,” the man said hesitantly. “A-are you or are you not a part of that?”

The grunt’s face became one of indifference as he stood up straight with his arms crossed, his posture completely exuding confidence. “Yeah, that’s right,” he retorted arrogantly. “Team Rocket did disband years ago, but we’re making our comeback now, and the likes of you better not stand in our way. You’ll regret it if you do. Just a…helpful suggestion.”

Silver clenched his fists, determined to stay hidden from the grunt but wanting to help the Azalea citizen. The man, though, ran away scared, heading back to the town as the grunt laughed and returned to the well. Silver did not like the fact that he seemed so confident. He was wondering if whoever was skulking the well were as weak as the agents from Violet City.

* * *

Krisa and Gold were in the Pokémon center with many other people trying to avoid the rain. They had been given towels to dry off and worked on drying their Pokémon off too, while Krisa was having Flare checked out for being out in the rain even for a short time. The nurse came over to her handing her the Pokéball, assuring the girl that her Pokémon was fine. Krisa decided Flare should stay inside the Pokéball until they got a room and changed into dry clothes.

As the two children started discussing dinner plans, Silver, unbeknownst to them, entered the Pokémon center. Silver didn’t even see Krisa before the three Pokédex began to beep simultaneously. Krisa and Gold took out theirs as Silver did the same. None of them knew what was happening until Flappy began to chirp and point, Sneasel nudging his trainer for the same reason.

Time seemed to stop as Krisa and Silver saw each other. Gold seemed very confused about the interaction and clicked a button to stop the Pokédex from beeping. Krisa and Silver continued to stare before the man who had confronted the Team Rocket agent ran into the center with an officer.

“They’re back!” he exclaimed in alarm. “Team Rocket is coming back. I ran into an agent somewhere by the well.”

The Pokémon center was full of people asking questions like “what do we do?” and “how are we going to stop them?” Both the blue-haired girl and red-headed boy tensed up when they heard not only the mention of Team Rocket, but townspeople trying to suggest plans of attack to the officer. Gold noticed both of them freeze up and pulled Krisa from the table dragging her over to the boy.

“Okay, I don’t know who you are,” Gold said to Silver, “but your reaction to that man’s statement was fishy. No offense, Krisa, but yours was too. What gives?”

“It’s none of your business,” Silver snapped, glaring at the dark-haired stranger.

“I-It’s my brother,” Krisa replied with a stutter. It gained both Silver’s and Gold’s attention as they both looked to her, Gold looking at her with concern while Silver held an emotionless gaze. “A few days ago, I heard him on the phone with someone, and I heard him say he was a part of Team Rocket and that everything was starting in Violet City. It was the same day Professor Elm suggested the Pokémon League Challenge so I used that as an excuse to leave. I…I was hoping it was just an empty plan and that he really wasn’t helping to bring Team Rocket back. I was hoping to talk to him and get him to quit when I found him.”

“That’s a lot to take on,” Gold told her, hoping to comfort her. “Hey, why don’t the three of us team up and stop them ourselves. If we confront them, maybe you’ll run into your brother and can reason with him then. What do you say, Krisa? Flame-boy?”

Silver scoffed at the nickname and crossed his arms that were slightly covered by his cloak. “Like I would team up with weaklings like you,” he rebuked. “I’m not looking to reason with these people. My reasons are my own, just like I can handle them _on my own._ Just stay out of my way.”

Gold glared at the guy’s retreating form and waved his arm as if he was disgusted. “Eh, we don’t need whatever that guy’s name is. We’ll be okay if we work together. Hey, Krisa, the two of you looked like you knew each other. What’s the story?”

Krisa had already revealed her brother’s secret. She didn’t plan on revealing Silver’s anytime soon. Instead she said, “His name is Silver. He’s a trainer like us.”

* * *

Silver couldn’t get Krisa’s confession out of his head. It made sense, now, why she helped him out. She was a naïve child who probably saw good in everyone and thought she could change the world. She must have assumed he had a good reason and wanted to assist him. Maybe that’s why she had been so desperate to find him, to get those answers.

If her brother really was a part of Team Rocket, it was going to take more than talking to him to get him out. Silver knew that from experience. It was like the mafia: once in, you can never get out, at least not until the whole organization was brought down. That was his plan. He wanted to bring Team Rocket’s entire unit down. To do that, he needed strong Pokémon.

And that need was what brought him to Kurt’s house.

Kurt was the master of creating Pokéballs from apricorns. He entered the workshop without as much as a word, placing a black apricorn down in front of Kurt. Kurt was an older gentleman with white, shoulder cut hair. His expression was serious and stern and it matched the look Silver was giving him. The Pokéball maker did not utter a sound as he took the apricorn from Silver and began making his Pokéball.

It took about an hour, but Silver’s patience was rewarded with a heavy ball. He headed back to the cave in the mountain and started climbing the cliff with Sneasel by his side. He was determined to find a strong Pokémon that could help him take on Team Rocket by himself. He didn’t think Krisa or Gold would be able to hold their own against the cruel and heartless agents. They were too innocent.

* * *

Krisa and Gold braved the rain once again as they headed to the Slowpoke Well. The two trainers climbed down into the deep hole, Gold going in first in case Krisa slipped and needed to be caught. Once inside, they realized how dark the tunnel was. Flare was released from his Pokéball and lit up to guide the two children through the darkness. Gold had all of his Pokémon out ready for battle. He had introduced Krisa to his team of four back at the center. He had Aibo and Chica and his Marill, Aqua, and a Poliwag named Polibo. Krisa kept her full team safe in their Pokéballs, though Flare was their guide and Flappy was remaining by her side, concerned for his trainer.

The travelled deeper into the well, not noticing Polibo picking up a crown-shaped rock. The children didn’t noticed, concentrating more on finding the agents and stopping them in whatever they were doing.

“I hope we don’t have too much trouble,” Gold stated. “I’ve heard too many horror stories about Team Rocket, and I would hate for any of them to be true.” His serious demeanor changed to a confident smile. “Let’s take them out, Krisa. Let’s prove those stories wrong.”

Krisa returned his confidence flashing him a smile of her own. “Right!” she answered. “We can stop them. I know we can.”

“Oh really?” a male voice questioned. “You _know_ you can? Two little twerps like you couldn’t stand up to us.”

Flare’s flames illuminated the corridor of the well and revealed two males and a female grunt. It was hard to distinguish between the three, all having short, dark hair covered up by black hats. They were standing smugly with their Pokémon behind them. One of the guys had two Rattata while the other had a Rattata and two Zubat surrounding him. The girl grunt had a Zubat and an Ekans.

“Why are you doing this?” Gold asked. “I can only assume the Slowpoke Tail salesman we ran into was one of your goons?”

“You assume correctly,” the girl cackled. “We need the money, and it’s not like the tails are permanently lost. These stupid Slowpoke probably don’t even realize what’s going on.”

“Hey, that’s not nice!” Krisa exclaimed. “Slowpoke are very smart Pokémon.”

“Whatever,” one of the guys said. “I hope you two are ready for a battle, because neither of you are leaving here. You know too much.”

Gold glanced at their line of Pokémon. “Most of those are poison-types,” he whispered to Krisa. “That means psychic moves, and even ground moves, are our best bet.”

“Only Flit has a psychic-type move,” Krisa explained.

Gold nodded but still seemed pretty calm. “Well, then it’s a good thing type isn’t the only thing that matters in battles. Polibo, Aqua, water gun!”

The two water-types fired their liquid guns while Krisa sent out Flit and ordered the Butterfree to use confusion. Flit’s attack was able to knock out all of the Zubat, but the Ekans managed to wrap itself around the Butterfree bringing the bug-type to the solid ground. Flare managed to dodge the attacking Rattata, all three of them, while Flappy and Aibo tackled a couple. Flit managed to get free from Ekans’ wrap, but before Krisa could declare an attack, Chica was ordered to tackle the Ekans away.

“Krisa, go deeper into the well! I’ll hold these guys off! Send out your Pokémon in case you get ambushed!”

Krisa didn’t respond. Instead she took off in a run with Flare guiding her path. She released Friendship, Frighty, and her new Sandshrew, Famon, out in case they ran into trouble. The young girl was expecting to find many more trainers like the three she and Gold had just faced. She was not expecting to find only one man cutting off the tails of the seemingly unresponsive Slowpoke.

She observed the man. He looked older than the grunts they had seen, and had a much different uniform than they did. Where theirs were solid black, his was black with yellow trimmings. Instead of a simple, black hat that covered up his short, teal hair, he was wearing a beret. The other noticeable difference was that he wore white boots and gloves with a red strip on each, contrasting with the jet black his subordinates wore.

When he turned to face her, Krisa was taken aback. He looked completely amused with a wicked glint in his green eyes. “You must be the girl I was warned about,” Proton stated causing Krisa to jump. She hadn’t come across any agents yet, so she didn’t know how this one knew of her. “It doesn’t matter, though,” he continued, “whether or not you came to stop us I mean. The result will be the same.” His wicked glint was accompanied by a vicious smirk. “I’m known as the cruelest guy on the team, so I suggest you forget you saw us since I’m feeling unusually merciful. If you refuse, well, you won’t be making it out of here alive.”

“I…I can’t go,” Krisa stuttered feeling fear of the man in front of her but not wanting to give up.

Proton chuckled at the girl’s anxiety. Toying with his victim’s minds was something he was known for, which is why Archer had made him second in command. He could get the job done. He just needed to push the child a little harder.

“Zubat, go!” he shouted as he released his Pokémon.

Zubat flew at Krisa and her Pokémon, using a supersonic sound that reached all but Flare’s ears and didn’t affect Fighty at all. Krisa knew of the supersonic attack and how it could confuse other Pokémon. She recalled the four Pokémon that had been taken by the sound and then looked to Flare who instantly understood his trainer’s thoughts.

Proton grinned slightly, strangely pleased that girl wasn’t giving up. He had to admit she had guts taking him on all by herself despite being frightened, but he was not going to go easy on her. “Supersonic,” he dictated slowly to his Zubat.

“Flare, use your ember,” Krisa suggested.

The supersonic waves and flames met in between the two Pokémon and caused a small explosion that caused a small wind to blow from the force. Krisa cringed from the heat, stepping back a little as her hair was tousled around from the gust. Proton stood firmly, his hair blowing slightly. His arms remained crossed as mirth danced in his eyes. He didn’t expect a child to exhibit fearlessness in battle with a Team Rocket grunt let alone an executive like him. That could only mean one thing.

This girl had no idea who she was or what she was getting into.

“Zubat, tackle,” Proton demanded, holding his hand out in the direction he wanted the bat to go.

The little bat flew up into the air and dove at Krisa’s Quilava. But Flare dodged and countered with quick attack and, because the attack was head on, Zubat took the full force and was knocked out.

Proton’s mouth dropped opened slightly, and his amusement disappeared; his expression darkened. He took out his second Pokémon and threw the ball to release it. A Koffing appeared in the cave and it looked ready to battle. Flare got ready to defend its trainer if necessary.

“Leer,” Krisa said hoping to lower Koffing’s defense. If its defense could be lowered, then quick attack would be able to take it out with one hit like it had Zubat.

Proton already determined her strategy and smirked as black smog from Koffing began to fill the well. Krisa could hear him chuckling as her vision became clouded. Flare was looking around trying to find where Koffing went.

Krisa, not wanting Flare to stay a sitting duck, told it to use quick attack anyway, but Koffing dodged in the smog and caused the attack to miss. Just then, a purple gas mixed with the black smog and caused Flare to cough and cringe from the poison. Flare attempted to use ember trying to break through the smog, but the attack still missed Koffing and only managed to stir a little bit of the smog away.

If Flare couldn’t land an attack, especially when poisoned, Krisa knew that the battle would be over and Flare would be extremely hurt. Instead of prolonging this game of hit or miss, she recalled Flare to his Pokéball and tucked it safely in her bag. Since Frighty was already out and wasn’t bothered by the Zubat’s supersonic, she sent him out to battle.

Koffing continued to release black smog and purple gases to create smog, but being a poison-type as well as a ghost-type, Frighty wasn’t affected by it as much as Flare had been. The Gastly was able to burst through the blanket of gas and began to rapidly lick the Koffing repeatedly until it fell to the ground from paralysis.

Koffing cried out weakly as Gastly returned to Krisa’s side. With the Koffing defeated, Krisa’s Pokédex beeped differently than earlier, alerting Krisa that Frighty had learned a new move, night shade.

Proton recalled his Pokémon and glared at the girl. He hadn’t expected the timid girl from the beginning of fight to actually beat him. “You,” he growled out. “Do you honestly think you can come in here and thwart our plans? You’re nothing but a weak child and, even if you have beaten my Pokémon, you will not get away from me.”

“You might not want to say that when it’s two on one.”

Krisa and Proton both looked to archway between corridors and saw Gold standing there looking very smug. “And you should be worried because I just beat your three guys.”

Proton looked between the two and glared. Without his Pokémon or his backup, he couldn’t take two opponent’s on at once even if they were children. “Please, you two aren’t even worth my time. You are nothing but small obstacles in Team Rocket’s way. You might want to keep in mind what I’ve said, girl. In the future, I might not be feeling as merciful as I was today.”

Throwing down a smoke ball helped Proton to escape. Gold and Krisa couldn’t help but cough from the smoke but were fine once it cleared. Due to all of the gaseous attacks, Krisa began to feel lightheaded and fell to the ground.

“Krisa!” Gold called in alarm as he went to help her. “Are you all right?”

Krisa forced a smile on her face, grimacing from pain. “I’m fine, Gold,” she said softly. “I think the fumes are starting to get to me. My lungs are burning.”

“Yeah,” Gold muttered. “Let’s get out of here. The fresh air should help.”

Gold put one of Krisa’s arms over his shoulder and the two of them began to walk out of the darkened well with Frighty following behind them. All either of them could think was how some much changed in just a few hours. It was one of the first times in a while where Gold had been serious or worried. He didn’t know what it meant for the future, or how he would be able to hide his attitude change from his grandparents.

Once back in town, Krisa was feeling a little better so she was able to walk on their own. It was already getting dark, though the rain seemed to have calmed down. Still, they knew it was better to stay in the Pokémon center for the night considering that Flare had been injured by Koffing’s attacks. If anything was really wrong with Krisa from the attacks, it would have been better to be around nurses as well who understood Pokémon poison.

* * *

Meanwhile, Silver had captured a new Pokémon and intended to prevent Team Rocket from fulfilling their plans. He entered the well alone and was surprised to find it empty. He could smell the residue from Koffing’s gas attacks, but it seemed to be very faint. Slowpoke were walking around the tunnels as if nothing had ever disturbed them. This calmness among the Pokémon could only be attributed to one thing.

“She did it. Krisa actually did it.”

Maybe the girl who had helped him out wasn’t as weak or foolish as he thought.


	5. Johto Arc: Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Pokémon Adventures, Soul Silver/Heart Gold and their characters and plots. Just using them as a guide for this story, so it won't follow the plots exactly. (I do have a copy of both Soul Silver and Heart Gold, though XD Also Silver, Gold, and Crystal. Ah Silver…my first videogame :3) I also do not own the songs I will be quoting in this song: "Sleepsong" and "I Will Find You." Both are beautiful Celtic songs that fit with this chapter. The lyrics will be appearing closer to the end of the chapter and will be italicized.
> 
> I will start doing this every chapter to remind everyone the nicknames of the main character's Pokémon, except spoiler Pokémon which will be included the next chapter, after their appearances.
> 
> Krisa: Flare (Quilava), Flappy (Pidgeotto), Frighty (Gastly), Friendship (Togepi), Famon (Sandshrew), Flit (Butterfree)  
> Gold: Chica (Chikorita), Aibo (Aipom), Polibo (Poliwag), Aqua (Marill)  
> Silver: Sneasel, Croconaw

The day after Krisa and Gold confronted Team Rocket in the well was a bright and sunny day, a perfect day for sightseeing. Now that Gold knew what Krisa's goal was, he understood her sense of urgency, but he also reminded her that she had no idea where her brother was. The one responsible for the Slowpoke Tail Project had not been Krisa's brother, but some sadistic guy who didn't care if he was harming children. Whatever Petrel had gotten himself into, it was going to be hard to get him out of it.

But Gold reminded Krisa she couldn't focus on it or she would drive herself crazy. He proposed that they have a friendly battle outside of the Pokémon Center after they grabbed breakfast. Krisa accepted the challenge, hoping to get her mind off of Petrel's actions.

It was three on three. Krisa chose to use Flappy, Flare, and Famon where Gold had sent out Aibo, Chica, and Polibo. Flappy had swiftly defeated Polibo, but lost to Aibo. Aibo was then defeated by Flare's ember attack. Flare had been weakened in the battle with Aibo and lost to Chica who was full of energy. Chica managed to also defeat Famon, meaning that Gold was the victor. Krisa didn't mind the loss. She had had fun just having a casual battle. It was a nice change considering the day before her and her Pokémon were fighting for their lives.

After the battle, the two friends walked around the small town chatting about their lives. Krisa explained more to Gold about her brother and their relationship. He had always been very protective of her, especially after their father had died. She told him that her father had been on the police force, a detective, but he had lost his life during one of his cases. After that, Petrel had become distant, but still protected her from the evils of the world. She kept it from him that she had still been mourning their father's death.

"My dad is the one who caught Flappy," Krisa told Gold. "He was my first Pokémon and my last connection to him. I…he always wanted me to become a trainer because he could tell I liked Pokémon a lot. He was the one who introduced me to Professor Elm when I was a lot younger."

"Your dad sounds awesome," Gold said with a comforting smile. "A heck of a lot better than mine."

Krisa flashed him a confused look before Gold sighed and scowled. "That creep left my mother years ago, not even telling her where he was going. When he left, he told me it was my responsibility to protect her and when I told him he was a sorry excuse for a man, we got into it and he left. He never said if he'd ever come back, and that was five years ago. Mom sends me off to my grandparents, not just because they need my help, but because she thinks I need to get away from it all occasionally. I'd rather be there making sure she's okay or scouring the whole planet to drag him back home."

Gold was smirking again as he thought of that last part. Krisa couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face, causing Gold to join her. For the rest of the day, they decided to train with the wild Pokémon and get information on them for the Pokédex. It was a great day for them to relax and also to trust each other with the stories of their pasts.

* * *

The next day was a busy Monday, the townspeople heading to their jobs in the local markets and buildings. For Krisa, the day would be another stepping stone. Today was the day she challenged the Azalea Town Gym.

She knew nothing of the gym leader, but she remembered Falkner saying she would do well. What type of Pokémon did the Azalea Town leader know if someone had recommended the place to her? She would have to wait and find out.

Gold was as excited as he had been for her gym battle at Violet City, though this time he hadn't been dragging her there. She no longer was concerned about searching for Petrel since it was obvious he wouldn't be in Azalea Town. They had already halted Team Rocket's operations there.

The inside of the gym looked like a forest, trees everywhere. Gold suggested the leader might use grass types, which Krisa agreed with. Flare and Flappy would definitely have an advantage there. Flit would too.

They stopped in the middle of the forest having gotten lost in the maze of trees. "Hey, are you two looking for someone?" a familiar voice called out.

Krisa and Gold looked up to the tree above them and Krisa saw the scientist she had met at the Ruins of Alph. The lavender-haired scientist jumped down from the tree using the webbing of a string shot attack that a random Metapod used. He landed in front of the two children and instantly recognized Krisa.

"Hey, you're the girl I ran into at the ruins," the scientist said causing Gold to give Krisa a questioning glance.

Krisa smiled and nodded. "You're the scientist that gave me the Unown Report," she replied making Gold's questioning glance turn slowly to the scientist.

The lavender-haired man let out a laugh and he nodded a few times. "Yeah, I did. My name is Bugsy, and yes, I am an archeologist, but I am also the Azalea Town gym leader. Should I assume you were looking for me?"

"Yeah, I was," Krisa answered.

The leader grinned at her and said, "Then follow me."

They had walked deeper into the forest and Gold caught glimpses of some other bug-type Pokémon. He started to figure out what kind of gym this was, especially when the leader had a name like Bugsy. He wondered if Krisa had figured it out yet.

They reached the battlefield, and Krisa and Bugsy went to their opposing sides. "What is the name of my challenger?" Bugsy had asked.

"Krisa," the girl replied confidentially. She appeared ready for battle, though she felt a little uncertain. She knew she had type advantage over the Pokémon, but there had to be a reason why Bugsy was the gym leader.

Her thoughts were confirmed when he said, "Well, Krisa, I hope you're ready. My research has made me the authority on bug-type Pokémon. It will be difficult for you to beat me."

In that moment, Bugsy sent out his Scyther. The green bug looked tough, especially with its sword-like hands. Krisa decided to send out Flare. She knew that its speed would be advantageous against the sturdy Scyther looked like it was ready to take flight.

Scyther's quick attack beat out Flare's smokescreen, though the black smoke had been released on the battlefield. Despite the cloudiness, Scyther managed another quick attack. _It's fast!_ Krisa thought. It concerned her that the Pokémon was faster than her Quilava. Flare managed to attack with a quick attack before Scyther charged at the fire mouse once more. This time the attack missed giving Flare the chance to use ember. The attack had weakened the bug, but Scyther had had a sitrus berry and used that to heal. It was able to use another quick attack that seemed stronger than all its other attacks, knocking out Flare for the time being.

"Never underestimate bug Pokémon," Bugsy said and Krisa carried Flare from the battlefield. "They are stronger than most give them credit for."

"I don't doubt it," Krisa replied, "but the same can be said about me."

Krisa merely looked at Flappy which cued the Pidgey to fly onto the field. Scyther instantly attacked with quick attack, but Flappy hadn't been knocked down. It held on to use a strong gust attack that blew the mantis Pokémon back towards its trainer. A leer attack from the bug was avoided by Flappy. It used quick attack to weaken Scyther, but the Scyther seemed to find renewed strength somewhere. It used quick attack which knocked Flappy down, but the Pokémon was only weakened and not defeated.

Knowing that Scyther would use quick attack again, Krisa recalled Pidgey and sent out Frighty who phased out when the quick attack hit. Ghost-types weren't affected by physical attacks like that. Frighty was able to avoid an attack from the mantis before Scyther took Krisa by surprised and used a different attack which hit Frighty and then called for Scyther to be recalled and switched for Kakuna.

"That move is called U-turn," Bugsy told her. "I discovered it."

Krisa was impressed, but she didn't want to get distracted. "Frighty, use night shade!"

Frighty followed his trainer's command, but Kakuna seemed to stay in place. The chrysalis then shot a poisoned stinger towards Frighty. It hit the gas ball, but Frighty seemed unfazed. It flew over to Kakuna and licked it weakening the sedentary Pokémon. Kakuna held on, attempting to use its poison sting again, though against the Gastly was barely effected. Frighty attacked with night shade once more and defeated the brown cocoon.

Bugsy recalled Kakuna and then sent out Scyther. Krisa decided to leave Frighty out to counter Scyther's quick attack in case the mantis used it. Bugsy's Scyther used focus energy all the while Frighty phased out and attacked it with lick. Scyther managed to survive the hit.

Krisa was starting to get a bit more nervous, but she didn't that deter her. "Frighty, try night shade one more time."

Frighty grinned, ready to attack, but before the energy could leave the Pokémon, Scyther used its U-turn move and went back into its Pokéball. That's when Bugsy sent out Metapod, and the nightshade attack hit the purple butterfly.

"Again?" Gold muttered to himself. "Why can't that bug just stay and fight?" As soon as he asked that question, he was surrounded by a bunch of Weedle and Caterpie who looked quite perturbed by his statement. Gold laughed nervously and held his hands up in defense. "I mean, go bug Pokémon."

Krisa decided that now would be the best time to send Flappy back out. "You did a great job, Frighty, now return."

Frighty went back into its Pokéball while Flappy was sizing up the chrysalis. Metapod took the opportunity to tackle the previously weakened Pidgey. Thinking quickly, Krisa told Flappy to use Roost and the Pokémon regained its lost strength. Metapod tackled Flappy again, but Flappy's gust managed to push the Pokémon back and slam it into a tree. Being hit with such force between the gust and the tree, Metapod was knocked out.

Bugsy gasped as he worriedly ran over to his Pokémon. "Metapod, are you okay?" the leader asked its friend. When he got an affirmative answer, Bugsy breathed out a breath of relief. "Well, that's good. You did great out there. It's time for you to take a rest."

Bugsy recalled Metapod into its ball and turned back to his opponent. She had already managed to defeat two of his bug-types. Still, his last remaining Pokémon was the one who was constantly giving her trouble. The move, though, that managed to protect his Scyther he could no longer use as there were no other Pokémon in his party, and Krisa still had a few Pokémon with fight left in them.

"Yeah, you go, Krisa!" he heard her friend cheer from the sidelines. Bugsy snickered when he saw the worm Pokémon crawling on him and covering him with their string shot. Krisa couldn't help but snicker at the scene, too. His bug-types were very prideful and didn't like being talked down to or belittled. It looked like her friend had learned it the hard way.

Bugsy finally regained his gym leader composure and sent out his Scyther once more; Krisa decided to have Flappy continue the battle. Both Pokémon continued to dodge each other's attacked, but finally Scyther hit Flappy with quick attack. Flappy held on, however, and managed to counter with a very forceful gust. The wind battled Scyther around until the Pokémon landed on the ground, thouroughly defeated. Where the battle hadn't lasted that long, Bugsy was highly proud of his Pokémon for it had been in battle with each of Krisa's Pokémon.

Bugsy was about to commend the young girl for her victory, but Flappy produced a white glow and changed its shape. Krisa seemed to marvel at the fact that her most trusted partner was evolving before her very eyes. She was so excited to be able to see something that reminded her of her family camping trips, the one time in her life where she was truly happy.

"Wow, cool!" Gold exclaimed while breaking free of the silken strand. "It must have gained a ton of experience in the battle for it to evolve right at the end like that."

"It is impressive," Bugsy agreed as the glow disappeared and a Pidgeotto stood before him. "Congratulations, Krisa, on both evolution and the win. Here, take the hive badge. It's yours."

Bugsy handed Krisa the shiny gym badge as a symbol of her victory there. He explained the benefits of having the badge and gave her TM 89, the move U-turn that he had discovered. As they headed towards the gym exit together, Bugsy decided to give Krisa some more encouragement. "Now remember; study hard and strive to meet all of your goals. You don't have to be just an ordinary trainer. You can be a researcher, coordinator, professor, anything you want to be. You could be all of it if you wanted. Just make sure to continue on your own path."

Krisa smiled and nodded. She was already aiming to be a strong trainer as well as a researcher, but now she assumed she could add crime fighter to the list. Bugsy didn't need to know that part, though. After all, she was a young kid and what she was doing was dangerous. She hoped she could get Petrel out of the organization without either of them getting to deeply involved, though she feared she was too late for that.

"So the next gym is in Goldenrod City," Gold told her as they started leaving the town. "Since my grandparents live right outside of the city, I'll go with you to watch you battle. If it's anything like what I've seen so far, I can tell our gym leader has her work cut out for her."

Krisa smiled having been given the compliment. "Thanks, Gold, it means a lot." She thinks again on her situation with Petrel and becomes sad again. "It really means a lot," she whispered.

Gold heard her and frowned, but more in anger than in sadness. He was angry at Petrel for putting his sister through all of this. The idiot probably didn't even know that Krisa was tailing him, though he would have figured it out if he checked in with her like an older brother should.

With how sad Krisa was and how exhausted she and her Pokémon must be from her battle made Gold suggest staying at the Pokémon center another night before cutting through the forest. Krisa wanted to press forward, but when she yawned Gold was more adamant and Flappy was nudging her towards the center. Krisa relented and decided another night of rest wouldn't hurt.

What neither of the two realized was that someone had overheard their plans, and that someone was Silver. He was still in shock that a little girl was able to take on Team Rocket, and it made him curious about just how strong she really was. He smirked and decided to camp out near Ilex Forest. He planned to ambush the two the next day and finally have an answer to his question. Did Krisa really have what it took to fight a well-known crime syndicate?

* * *

The next day, Krisa and Gold made sure to buy supplies and food for their trip through the forest. Though Gold knew Ilex Forest very well, he knew that it was going to be a long trip and the two of them would be camping out. He warned Krisa that the trees were so tall that the forest appeared to be in constant nighttime, but the girl assured her friend she was not afraid of the dark or camping in the forest. She was used to those kinds of trips and loved the fact that she was able to camp out once again.

They did a double-check of their supplies and were stopped by the beeping of the Pokédex when Silver jumped out of a tree, startling them both. "Hey, watch it," Gold snapped. "Where do you get off just showing up out of nowhere after leaving us behind?"

Silver ignored Gold. He didn't feel like he had anything to discuss with the boy even if he was another Pokédex holder. Instead, his eyes went to Krisa. She was as quiet and confused as ever, but Silver realized that behind her naïve, girlish exterior, she possessed the strength to stop a Team Rocket operation, and maybe more strength she wasn't even aware she possessed.

He pushed past Gold who was blocking his way from Krisa. "What's your problem?"

Silver's pensive expression soured as he finaly acknowledged Gold. Gold was actually waiting for an apology, but his desire was unmet when Silver growled out, "Butt out."

Seething, Gold stepped up, but Krisa got in the way and faced Silver. The two of them didn't speak to one another, but Silver broke the silence. He needed to hear it from her. "Tell me, Krisa," he spoke smoothly. Krisa was pretty surprised by the surprising softness of his tone. "Did you really do it?"

Krisa was taken aback. "D-Do what?"

Silver scowled at her, but he could admit he was being cryptic. "Did you interfere with Team Rocket's operation?"

"I did," she answered warily.

"Did you beat them?"

Krisa could see the hope in his eyes, but she wasn't sure why that was. Truth was she barely knew anything about Silver other than the fact that he stole from Professor Elm and, from the looks of it, Professor Oak. Still, there was a part of her that knew there was more to the story, just like she knew there had to be more to the story with Petrel. Silver, though he had a bad attitude, didn't seem to want to hurt her. There was no way he was with Team Rocket then. That meant he had to be asking her for another reason.

"Yes."

The upturn of his lips into a smirk unsettled Krisa slightly, his chuckle unnerving her. "Excellent," he replied sounding almost sinister. He noticed her nerves, but that only served to make him seem smug. Underneath her childish exterior was a fighter, and she truly had no idea. "I commend you for taking them down, but I'm a whole other story. I challenge you, Krisa. You better not disappoint me."

"Are you out of your mind?" Gold snapped. "Why would she waste her time battling you?"

Silver's venomous eyes shot back towards Gold. "I told you to 'butt out.'"

Gold sneered and was about to retort, but Krisa's voice stopped him. "I accept your challenge, Silver."

Gold's mouth dropped open in surprise. He hadn't expected to delay their travel to battle Silver. He knew how much it meant to her to push forward. He decided to quiet himself and just watch. Clearly there was something else going on that he didn't understand.

So far, Krisa wasn't disappointing Silver. He had known she would accept if there was truly a fighter inside of her. Her meekness wasn't a front, per se, but she seemed to know there were more important things than her shyness and insecurities. He took out a Pokéball and tossed it revealing his Gastly.

Krisa thought hard about which one of her Pokémon she wanted to use and sent Flare out. Silver remembered fighting her Cyndaquil before. It was strong as a Cyndaquil, so it had to be even stronger as a Quilava. _I better be careful,_ he told himself, continuously calculating his every move. One thing he knew he could do was reduce the Pokémon's fire power.

"Flare, ember," Krisa called out taking charge of the battle. Again, Silver smirked. He could see confidence fueling her. Honestly, he wanted to see her attack hit.

"Gastly, take it," he told his Pokémon. Gastly seemed okay with the arrangement, though it was pushed back and weakened slightly. Right after, its eyes glowed brightly, the flames getting weaker.

"What just happened?" Krisa voiced.

"The move is spite," Silver explained while crossing his arms. "It reduces the pressure of a certain move, in this case your Quilava's ember."

Unfortunately, it was too late for the Gastly, though Silver didn't mind. Gastly had done its job. Croconaw was his next Pokémon, and it was raring to go for battle. Krisa knew that Flare was at a disadvantage. Though she didn't have any Pokémon with a type advantage, she knew Flappy would be able to stand up to her opponent's Pokémon. Flare was withdrawn to the sidelines, standing next to his trainer as her Pidgeotto flew into battle.

According to the Pokédex Silver glanced at, Krisa's Pidgeotto was evenly matched with his Croconaw. He kept his cool, but he frowned at seeing the screen. _There's no way_ , he remarked in his head. It was hard to believe that this girl had a Pokémon that could match with his when she had only just started her journey. "Flappy, quick attack!" Silver's attention snapped back to the battle, his Croconaw caught off-guard.

Croconaw recovered quickly and looked to Silver, their eyes meeting. A nod from Silver was all the Pokémon needed to bite the Pidgeotto. Krisa grimaced, hating to see her Pokémon in harm's way. Silver's hardened eyes softened when he saw her look of panic, before they hardened again. She was just going to need to learn to deal with it if she wanted to battle.

Flappy managed to free himself Croconaw's mouth and began to flap his wings hard creating a large gust. Silver raised his right arm to try to cover his eyes from the wind and dirt. Croconaw had been pushed back slight. "Croconaw, water gun," he ordered, though he could barely hear his own voice. Croconaw heard him, and the burst stream of water shot through the gust to Flappy. While Flappy was caught by surprise, Silver let out another command. "Scary face."

Krisa recognized that move. It was the move that her Spinark, Flashy, used in their battle. She knew that the attack reduced speed, so the safest bet for the offensive was to have Flappy keep using quick attack. Silver was astonished that his Pokémon's scary face technique was having little effect. He tried to counter Flappy's quick attack with a combination of bite and water gun, but the Pidgeotto was still too fast for Croconaw to land a firm blow.

Eventually, Croconaw felt dizzy to the ground, causing its trainer to growl quietly. He hadn't been expecting Croconaw to lose so quickly, or at all, to the girl's Pokémon. He looked over to Krisa and her Pokémon. "I'll admit," Silver said to the girl, "that I was not expecting your Pidgeotto to be so fast. Underestimating you and your team is not something I intend to do again."

Silver glanced over to his Sneasel, his most trusted partner, and the Pokémon instantly knew what to do.

"Krisa!" Gold called out. "Sneasel is an ice-type. Flying-types are weak against ice."

Silver shot Gold a glare. The kid should have known not to get involved with someone else's fight. But of course, Krisa was ready to make the adjustment and sent her Quilava back out into battle. Well, it didn't matter. Whether she was at a disadvantage or she was, he still intended to test her strength.

"Sneasel, slash, now," he commanded.

The speed of Sneasel's was even greater than Flappy's, so Flare countered with quick attack. Both attacks hit and sent the Pokémon back. Out of nowhere, a dark haze from Flare's smokescreen overtook the area, and no one could see anything. Sneasel still managed to hold on, using icy wind to blow the smoke away, just in time for the attack to be met with ember. An explosion between the competitors went off, and Flare used that as an advantage and attacked with flame wheel. The attack held so much force that Sneasel was weakened and barely able to stand. Normally, with Silver's other Pokémon, he would have them fight until they couldn't, but Sneasel was different.

"Sneasel, come back," he ordered gruffly, though his eyes held an underlying softness. He didn't think anyone but Sneasel noticed; however, Krisa did.

"This isn't over," Silver stated as he threw another Pokéball, revealing a Zubat.

Krisa decided to give Friendship a chance to battle. Since the Pokémon had hatched, Krisa hadn't really sent the Togepi into battle. Friendship looked around, highly confused. He let out a cute noise that made Silver and his Zubat sweat-drop. It was the opportunity he needed to get an edge.

"Zubat, use supersonic."

A loud noise was release from the Zubat, and it affected Friendship. The Togepi began to wobble slightly, highly confused. Krisa had never seen a Pokémon confused before, but she knew from Professor Elm that sometimes they could still hear commands.

"Friendship, try using extrasensory," she suggested.

Silver was surprised when the small Pokémon used its power and hit his Zubat directly, but he realized when the Pokémon fell over that the hit was just a fluke. He ordered his Zubat to use bite, which weakened the dizzy Togepi, but without Krisa even managing out a command, the little egg used extrasensory once more at close range to the Zubat, and both Pokémon dropped to the ground. Togepi rolled over to its trainer and cheered happily, making Krisa smile. She held the little egg close to her as its confusion wore off.

Zubat was recalled, and Silver took out his last Pokéball. It was the heavy ball that Kurt designed for him, and he used it to catch a highly aggressive Ursaring in the mountains. It was more than likely that the Pokémon would have enough power to take out Krisa's entire team, but truthfully that wasn't the purpose of the battle. If it had been about his pride, he would have released Ursaring to run rampant on her team. His original purpose for battling her was to see if she was in fact strong enough to handle Team Rocket. She was still a pure-hearted little girl, but she was apt at battling. He had seen all he needed to see.

He smirked slightly at Krisa, making her freeze slightly. Part of her expected him to release his last Pokémon, but he placed the sphere back on his belt. "I concede," he told her.

Silver begins to walk away, but Krisa's voice stopped him.

"Wait!" he heard her call out.

He paused in his stride, but didn't look at the girl. "What is it?"

Krisa swallowed down her nerves before she asked, "Please don't tell anyone."

Silver knew then that Krisa was asking him to keep quiet about her brother. Truthfully, he didn't care about her story. He was planning on taking out Team Rocket by himself, for the most part if he didn't include her help, for his own reasons. He wouldn't be going to the police or anyone else with her private business. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said smugly before entering the forest with his Sneasel. He hadn't looked back even once.

After Silver was gone, Krisa let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and Gold finally moved from his spot at the sidelines. "You okay?" he asked her. She nodded slowly in response before Gold growled, "Seriously, what was the guy's problem?"

"I don't know," Krisa admitted. She would have liked to think that he would have told her the reason for the abrupt battle, and the abrupt end, but he just left again, though at least this time on better terms. She still didn't intend to tell Gold much about the other trainer, but her curiosity was now skyrocketing. His words didn't make sense to her at all, though she was hoping it meant that he wasn't going to tell anyone about Petrel and his activities in Team Rocket.

"Anyway," Gold muttered, "he delayed us in going through the forest. We were going to have to camp out anyway, but it'll probably take us two days to get through now. I had been hoping to have a few more hours of daylight. It's really dark in there."

"We'll be okay," Krisa told him. "We do have Flare after all."

"Yeah, true," Gold returned nodding to himself. "Okay, well we better get through as quickly as possible. That place is a maze."

* * *

The two of them entered Ilex Forest together as Gold told Krisa stories about the legends behind the place. It made her feel a little uneasy, almost like how she felt in the Ruins of Alph before she realized that the letters on the wall were actually Pokémon. "This place is creepy," she voiced.

"Told you," Gold retorted. "It's always so dark here because of the tree coverage. It's like this forest is always in constant night. Hope you aren't afraid of the dark."

Krisa's head tilted back as she grinned at his teasing. "I'll be all right. I used to camp out with my family all the time as a little girl."

Gold returned her smile before he caught sight of another boy in the forest. The kid was pacing back and forth and murmuring to himself. "Hey, kid!" Gold called out loudly making Krisa stumble. She turned her attention to where Gold was looking and saw a boy around there age. The boy seemed startled by being addressed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm panicking," the boy said in alarm. "My boss hasn't come to the forest, has he? If he found out I'd be in so much trouble. I lost his two prized Pokémon, and I need to get them back."

"What Pokémon are they?" Krisa asked.

The boy looked to her and became nervous. "They're Farfetch'd. He uses them to cut wood for his business. I was just supposed to watch them while he went back into town to grab us lunch, but they ran off. I don't know what to do."

"We could help you," Krisa volunteered. "We can find them for you."

"We can?" Gold asked. He was under the impression Krisa was still in a rush to find her brother. He didn't think she'd settle for any delays.

She smiled to him, knowing what he was thinking. For a while, with all of guilt she had been feeling and the fear for her brother, Krisa felt like she needed to keep moving and stop her brother from joining Team Rocket. The fact that he was _already_ involved never really struck her before. There wasn't a way to stop him from doing stuff he was already doing, which only meant one thing. If Krisa wanted to stop him, she would have to confront him, and the only way to do that was to lay in wait for Team Rocket to strike again. She would have to battle every Team Rocket agent she came across, and to do that she needed to get stronger. In the meantime, she shouldn't let life pass her by. That was something Gold was trying to teach her that actually started rubbing off on her. It meant she had time and she wanted to spend that time helping others the way she would hopefully be able to help her brother.

"Yes," she stated, "we can. You said it yourself; it's constantly dark here and we only have a few hours before nightfall anyway. I can only imagine that it'll be pitch-black then. We should help him find his boss's Pokémon before it gets dark."

Gold felt relief. Truthfully, he wanted to help the kid, especially since he knew Ilex Forest so well. "Sounds good to me," he replied before turning to face the kid. "Now, which way did they run off?"

After the kid had given them a direction, it wasn't too hard to find the Farfetch'd. The problem was when they stumbled onto them, the Pokémon kept going off further and further into the dark forest. Gold started to get irritated, but he thought back to Pokémon his grandparents had watched at the daycare and suggested to Krisa that they each sneak up on one from behind and then grab them. His plan did work, and the kid was soon reunited with the Farfetch'd, and also his boss. His boss hadn't been pleased with the fact that his pupil had lost his Pokémon in the woods, but he was thankful to Gold and Krisa for finding them and returning them. He ended up giving them a sample of charcoal each, and he also gave them another hidden move, much like the one Krisa received from the sage in Violet City. This one, she learned, was the move, cut.

The whole endeavor took about an hour and a half, so it was too late to make any real strides through the forest. Gold informed Krisa that they were close to a halfway point, a special shrine that was built to honor the protector of the forest. The two of them decided it would be wise to make it to that halfway point and set up camp for the night. They would continue on to Goldenrod the next day.

Krisa wasn't able to fall asleep easily that night. Something about the forest had her on edge, though it wasn't the darkness. The light from the fire beside hers and Gold's tents provided decent lighting. The charcoal that the woodsmen gave them proved to be very useful. She could hear Gold snoring from his tent, but even that didn't bother her. When she and her family went camping, she would share a tent with her brother, and Petrel would snore the whole night. If it didn't bother her then, it definitely wouldn't bother her now.

Tossing and turning woke both Flappy and Flare up. They looked over to Krisa who was sitting up in her sleeping bag. Krisa pressed her hand to cover her face and looked over to her partners. "Sorry, you guys," she whispered. "I didn't mean to keep you awake too."

Flappy used his beak to nuzzle her head while Flare cuddled against, not lighting his flames, but warming his body up. The warmth was enough to lull Krisa to a sound sleep, Flare and Flappy exchanging their glances and coos before joining their trainer in slumber.

As soon as Krisa's head hit the pillow, though, she heard a voice calling out to her. At first the cries were faint, but then words started to form. _"Lay down you head, and I'll sing you a lullaby, back to the years of loo-li lai-lay, and I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow, bless you with love for the road that you go."_

Krisa stirred in her sleep, beginning to wake up again, but the voice continued to hold her consciousness in place. _"May you sail far to the far fields of fortune with diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet, and may you need never to banish misfortune. May you find kindness in all that you meet."_

Krisa started to wake up as she received a strange blessing. The voice was starting to distort as she began to open her eyes, but she heard one last promise before the words disappeared in the wind. _"May there always be angels to watch over you, to guide you each step of the way, to guard you and keep you safe from all harm…loo-li loo-li lai-lay."_

Krisa shot up out of bed and nearly cried out. The fire outside the tent had burnt out and Gold was still sleeping in the tent next to her. _Who was singing?_ she asked herself.

Feeling more uneasy than before, Krisa got out of her tent and wake to shake Gold awake. "Mm…five more minutes, mom," the boy complained in his sleep. When the shaking didn't stop, he started to wipe the sleep from his eyes and then realized where he was. He looked to Krisa who was biting back a smile. "You heard nothing."

"Whatever you say," Krisa replied.

Gold looked at the time on his Pokégear and saw that it was five in the morning. "Jeez, why did you wake me up so early?"

Krisa frowned as the unease returned to her. "Did you hear singing?"

Gold's expression flat lined as he heard her question. "No," he answered. "I was asleep. I didn't hear anything."

"But it was so loud," Krisa pondered. She noticed that Gold was giving her a strange look and blushed. She knew she had heard singing, but apparently her friend thought she was losing her mind.

"Well, whatever it was," Gold started, "we should try to go back to sleep, at least for a few more hours. We have a long trip later today."

Krisa nodded and left the tent, wrapping her arms around herself. It was easy for Gold to return to sleep, but she was feeling rattled. Sleeping would not come easy for her, so she decided to do something else. She knew her mother would be up soon for work, so she decided to give her a call. Hearing her mother's voice always seemed to chase away her fear.

Her mother answered and was very happy to hear from her. Krisa recounted her gym battles, and even the fact that she was travelling with a new friend, and she also mentioned her friend, Silver. Sure, Silver wasn't in actuality her friend, but Krisa saw him as such. Her mother was so happy to hear how smoothly her journey was going, though Lyra would have never expected the fight with Team Rocket, or the situation with Petrel. The young girl planned to keep it that way, and quickly got off the phone when he mother started talking about her brother. She didn't want to give anything away, and her mother would know something was wrong.

Calling her mother did quell her fears slightly, and she felt the exhaustion creeping up on her. She crawled back into her tent and started to drift off. No sooner did she drift, her eyes shot open again when she heard the strange, feminine voice singing again.

" _May you bring love, and may you bring happiness, be loved in return to the end of your days. Now fall off to sleep; I'm not meaning to keep you. I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay."_

Hearing the voice seemingly wishing her a bright future still panicked her. It didn't matter haw comforting all the words had been; she just wanted to hear silence, like a normal person would hear. It was clear that Gold hadn't heard anything, and the voice was only speaking to her. She curled up to Flare who was sleeping and remained awake and tense for the rest of the morning's early hours.

* * *

Later that morning, Krisa decided to go off for a little while since Gold was still asleep. She took her time to work with Flit and Famon and taught them U-turn and cut respectively, using the information on the disks she was given, knowing the moves might be needed in the future.

She made her way back to the campsite and found Gold making breakfast. He smiled to her and patted the spot by him. Seeing his laidback happiness helped Krisa to relax. It was morning now, so she no longer needed to be scared. The voice stopped singing to her after the last promise that it would leave her alone. Maybe, just maybe, she had dreamt the whole thing, so she decided to just let it go.

After breakfast, they put their camping gear away and started to travel through the forest. They engaged in light conversation, Flappy, Flare, and Aibo following closely behind them. Somehow in the dark woods, they two got separated from each other with their Pokémon. It worried Krisa, but she knew that Gold knew his way out. As for her, she had found another path that she felt would lead her to the forest's exit.

"Hey, girl!" she heard someone call out to her, which stopped her. She turned to see a heavyset man there, smiling at her and waving. She decided to see what he wanted. "Just watch me for a second," he said, confusing her. In that moment, he headbutted a tree. He then looked to her and grinned. "I can teach one of your Pokémon to do that. Headbutt is a move that can cause Pokémon to fall from trees and also induce flinching in the opponent. It would do a trainer like you some good to learn it."

Uneasiness crept up in Krisa's core when the man assumed she was a trainer. She wanted to know how he knew she was a trainer, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Still, he was right about the move, and Krisa decided that Friendship should learn it. It didn't take long for Friendship to learn how much power to behind headbutting, and the Togepi successfully learned the move. Krisa turned to the man to thank him, but she was met with a sight that disturbed her.

The man was not there.

She rapidly looked around, but she only saw the dark woods and the path she had been taking. Her Pokémon, too, felt a wave of uneasiness as they sensed something she couldn't, and Flappy, Flare, and Friendship all stayed close to her as the four of them slowly made their way along the path together.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gold was having little luck finding his way back to the main path. He wasn't worried about being "lost." He used to get himself lost in the forest all the time, but he always found his way out.

"Lost and all alone," he heard a woman's voice say off to the side. He turned to see a kimono girl dancing randomly in the middle of the woods. Aibo ran up onto his shoulder and nudged him, and the two of them shrugged together as Gold started to make his way over to the lost kimono girl. "Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex Forest." Her voice was singsong, her dance intricate, and Gold wondered if she was so lost, why she seemed so happy. What he didn't realize was that the kimono girl wasn't referring to herself at that moment.

Gold quietly made his way over to her until he accidentally stepped on a tree branch. The snapping sound caught the kimono girl's attention, and she smiled over to him. Awkwardly, Gold greeted her. "Hey," he said, "if you're lost, I can help you out of here."

"You will?" the girl asked happily, before grinning. "But you are lost in the woods as well," she stated. Gold mentally flinched when she figured out he truly was lost. He knew he'd eventually find the path, though, so he tried to play that off.

Aibo leaped off his shoulder and started to run in one of the directions Gold had already tried, and the path seemed to appear out of nowhere. The two of them follow the Aipom, and eventually they end up at the gate. "Oh thank you," the kimono girl praised as she knelt down to Aibo. She petted his head and smiled. "A smart Pokémon, you are." And then she got up and left the forest.

Gold was at a loss as to what had just happened. "What a weird lady," he marveled, "huh, Aibo?" The Pokémon could only nod in agreement with his trainer.

Not even minutes late, Krisa showed up having gotten to the gate using the other path. Gold's eyes widened when he saw her fear. "Krisa, are you okay? Sorry we got separated back there. I have no idea what happened."

Krisa nodded, but said nothing. She was too scared to speak. She didn't want to tell Gold what she experienced back in the deepest part of the forest. Likewise, Gold wasn't offering anything up about his time lost in the woods. The two of that made it to the gate, and Gold could finally see the sky. It was dark, and he knew it was nighttime. "My grandparents' house isn't too far from here," he said as they reached the gate. "I have a key so we can slip in tonight and sleep there. I'll introduce you in the morning."

Krisa again nodded and followed closely behind Gold, but then she heard the singing voice call out to her. It sounded like it was getting further and further away the farther they walked from the forest.

" _No matter where you go I will find you, if it takes a long, long time. No matter where you go I will find you, if it takes a thousand years."_

She looked back to the woods, a frown on her face. She was truly thankful that the voice disappeared once they hit the route to Gold's grandparents' home. Even though neither she nor Gold was saying anything, she knew that his day in the forest had him rattled as well. It was a good thing they were close to his grandparents', for she made a mental promise then that she wouldn't spend another night or ever return to Ilex Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So these are the chapters I have thus far on fanfiction. I really need to get back to working on this one. It went on unintentional hiatus back in 2014. But I have the story almost completely planned out, and most of the chapters have summaries set. I just have to get myself back into it. ^^' Anyways, let me know what you think thus far. I will try to get myself to update as soon as I can. :)


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